“This very difficult decision will allow us to recover after this period of crisis and ensure the sustainability of Groupe Marcelle,” says David Cape, President of Groupe Marcelle, in a press release announcing the company’s plans to address Coronavirus.
“We put the health of our employees and our partners, as well as our responsibility to society at large, at the forefront of all our decisions,” adds Cape, who goes on to thank the company’s pension fund and retail partners as well as customers of Groupe Marcelle: “I would like to thank our partner, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), as well as our retailers and many consumers for supporting us during this pandemic.”
A legacy beauty maker in times of uncertainty
Groupe Marcelle was founded in 1933. Today the cosmetics manufacturer owns the makeup and skin care brand Marcelle, Lise Watier Cosmetics, the color cosmetics brand Annabelle Cosmetics, and the men’s skin care brand CW Beggs and Sons. Together the brand’s portfolios comprise some 1,600 product SKUs.
Groupe Marcelle products are sold is some 3,500 doors across Canada as well as online on each brand’s own ecommerce site and via the online storefronts of the company’s retail partners.
According to this week’s press release announcing a slowdown in operations and layoffs, Marcell Groupe employees over 400 professionals working in R&D, production, marketing, and more.
These are challenging times for business leaders and the teams the rely on and Groupe Marcelle certainly won’t be the only beauty manufacturers to make an announcement such as this:“Confronting the unprecedented situation in connection with COVID-19, Groupe Marcelle has made the decision to prioritize the health and well-being of its employees, consumers, retail partners and suppliers and announces the reduction of its operations for an indefinite period, consequently, implementing temporary layoffs effective March 30.”
“We are taking every possible measure to minimize the impact on our workforce, including job-sharing as well as employees being offered jobs at companies that need manpower (e.g. food industry),” explains the release.
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Deanna Utroske is a leading voice in the cosmetics and personal care industry as well as in the indie beauty movement. As Editor of CosmeticsDesign.com, she writes daily news about the business of beauty in the Americas region and regularly produces video interviews with cosmetics, fragrance, personal care, and packaging experts as well as with indie brand founders. Find out what Deanna Utroske sees being disrupted in the beauty industry—in both good and challenging ways—by the CoronaVirus in this recent #duviews video.
