Shake-Out in the Skin Game

(2 of 2)

Overall the message in the industrywide shake-up seems plain enough. In the mature cosmetics market of the 1980s, bigness is no guarantee of fast growth. It may actually be a hindrance in a business where carving out specialty niches has become crucial to success. Such niches can dramatically boost the income of smaller companies, like Mary Kay, but the revenues from them have comparatively little impact on the income statements of multibillion-dollar powder-puff giants that were once small themselves.