Sweet Smell of Success for Cosmetics Displays

Cosmetics and fragrance sections in department stores are getting a make-over.

It started in 1995 when cosmetics giant Estee Lauder eschewed the traditional enclosed counter at its Lauder store in Las Vegas in favor of open shelving.

“We wanted to give customers the option of shopping on their own--a chance to browse and play,” said company spokeswoman Cheryl Crispen. “The customers loved it.”

Nudged by Lauder, some department stores are opting for open cosmetics displays that allow customers to test and select merchandise without help from sales people.

Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom have eliminated closed fragrance and cosmetics counters at some stores. Macy’s installs open stations for cosmetics such as Estee Lauder, Lancombe and Chanel when it remodels a store. And Saks Fifth Avenue this week said it will use open displays next year.

Robinsons-May, which is testing open displays at its Cerritos store, will probably get rid of the closed cosmetics counters at other stores, said Robinsons-May President David Mullen.

Mullen said consumers recently responded positively to open cosmetics and fragrance shelving at the Robinsons-May store in Scottsdale, Ariz., and at other stores operated by its corporate parent--St. Louis-based May Department Stores.

“The experiments resulted in double-digit sales increases,” said Mullen. “The old days of sales associates standing in aisles ready to attack with fragrance spray are gone.”

Why the changes?

Consumers “are reluctant to buy cosmetics through sales assistants because they’re afraid of being coerced into buying more than they want,” said Wendy Liebmann, a New York retail consultant. “For most consumers, service is ‘access to product, access to information and access to help when I want it--but only when I want it.’ ”

*

George White can be reached via e-mail at george.white@latimes.com.