Mary Kay moves ahead on new global manufacturing facility

This week the direct-sales beauty company selected Dallas / Fort Worth as the site of the new facility, a sizable building project that promises not to disrupt production and distribution as usual.

Precisely where in the Texas Metroplex the company will build remains to be seen. “Mary Kay Inc. is expected to make a decision on the construction site by the end of 2015 as locations…are being evaluated for the new facility,” explains the company in a media release about the project.

Now and next

US-based manufacturing accounts for much of Mary Kay’s production. The current facility in Dallas, Texas, produces as many as 1.1m units daily, and 57% of those are for export, according to the release.

The yet-to-be-built facility will comprise both manufacturing and R&D. With the exact property undetermined, it stands to reason that Mary Kay hasn’t shared detailed plans for the new construction.  But for reference, the existing facility is 420,000 square feet. And, nearly 600 people work there.

Looking ahead, company president and CEO David Holl says, “For more than 50 years, we have been committed to ensuring that Mary Kay products consistently meet or exceed consumer expectations. A new facility for our global manufacturing and R&D operations will enable us to continue to provide best-in-the-industry products to our Mary Kay brand lovers worldwide.”

Earned and spent

R&D is a significant initiative at Mary Kay. The company “invests millions of dollars” and “conducts more than 500,000 tests each year,” according to the media release.

And While Mary Kay prides itself on making much of its product in the States, Holl indicates that close to 75% of its business is oversees. Indeed the company operates in 8 Latin American countries, having opened in Colombia this spring.

On this current building project, Mary Kay teamed up with the real estate and investment firm CBRE.