Coty, Inc.
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as | : COTY S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Beauty |
| Founded | 1904 in Paris, France |
| Headquarters | New York City, United States |
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Key people
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Bart Becht, Chairman Camillo Pane, CEO |
| Products |
Fragrance Cosmetics Skin care Hair care |
| Revenue | US$9 billion (Fiscal year 2016 pro forma) |
| Owner |
JAB Holding Company Berkshire Partners Rhône Group |
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Number of employees
|
Over 20,000 worldwide |
| Website | www |
Coty, Inc., is a North American beauty products manufacturer based in New York founded in Paris, France, by François Coty in 1904. Its main products are fragrances, colour cosmetics and skin and body care products. It is known for its cooperation with designers and celebrities for the creation of fragrances. Its biggest brands, or "power brands" as it calls them, are: Calvin Klein (fragrance and cosmetics), Chloe (fragrance), Davidoff (fragrance), y (fragrance), Marc Jacobs (fragrance), Philosophy (beauty), Adidas (fragrance and beauty), Playboy (fragrance), OPI Products (beauty), Rimmel London (make-up) and Sally Hansen (beauty).
In 1904, François Coty founded Coty in Paris, with a goal to revolutionize the fragrance industry. In 1912, Coty opened subsidiaries in London and New York. Coty, Inc., became a publicly traded company in 1925 and acquired a majority interest in the European Coty companies in 1929.
During the Great Depression, sales in the United States fell from US$50 million in 1929 to $3.5 million in 1933. According to The New York Times, management 'compounded its mounting problems by slashing prices in a desperate effort to gain a mass market ... a near-fatal move in a field in which prestige and the luxury symbol were vital.' With World War II imminent, the foreign companies were folded into the newly created Panama-based Coty International Corporation in 1939. The ownership remained the same, and the two corporations had interlocking directorships.
The ownership transferred from Coty to his ex-wife Yvonne, who had, by then, married Leon Cotnareanu. The management was taken over by the Cotnareanu family and passed on to Philip Cotnareanu, who changed his name to Philip Cortney, over time.
After the Great Depression, Philip secured bank financing to keep Coty going and, in one of his first decisions, raised prices for the entire line. In spite of a long-range program to double the company's retail business, he cut off drugstores carrying Coty products if they would not agree to provide display space of at least 16 feet in length for exclusive stocking of these goods. Production lines were automated, packaging restyled, and new lines of goods added periodically, including, in 1955, a new toilet-goods line for men named 'Preferred Stock'. Research laboratories were established in Morris Plains, New Jersey, and overseas.
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Wikipedia