Today, Shiseido announced that U.S. makeup brand Laura Mercier, distributed in Japan by Shiseido, announced on July 4 that it will withdraw from the Japanese market at the end of October. Sales of the brand will gradually end across domestic retail locations, including department stores, cosmetics specialty stores, and Shiseido’s online platform.
Laura Mercier was founded in 1996 by French-born makeup artist Laura Mercier. The company offers makeup, skincare, body care & bath items. In 2016, the 20th anniversary of the brand, Shiseido acquired the brand and began full-scale development in Japan; in 2021, the company was sold along with bareMinerals and BUXOM to the US investment fund Advent International for $700 million. Since then, Orveoon, which owns the three brands, has been the brand holder, and Shiseido Japan has been handling distribution and sales in the Japanese market as the sole distributor.
According to Shiseido, the decision to pull out of the market was made in consultation with Orveon Global, the current operator of Laura Mercier. The company stated that the move is part of its broader strategy to streamline operations and focus resources on accelerating the growth of its core brands.
In response to the discontinuation of the product in the Japanese market, many people on social networking sites commented, “The finish of the cushion foundation is really beautiful and I keep coming back to buy more before the discontinuation. I have to buy more before they withdraw it.“ ”My eyebrow, blush, powder, primer, brush, and brower are ‘Laura Mercier’. I can’t do the face composition. ……” and many other lamented posts.
