Dive Brief:
- Hair care brand Hairitage by Mindy McKnight will expand its collection of products to Kroger stores nationwide and online in early February, per a release from the company.
- The four-year old brand further expanded its retail channels earlier in January, adding partnerships with CVS and HEB in stores and online. Hairitage has recently launched on TikTok Shop as well, per the company.
- The partnership agreements are geared to grow the Hairitage consumer base, and follow the company’s 2020 initial launch into Walmart. The mass merchant continues to offer its full collection of products, which include hair care, body care, tools and accessories.
Dive Insight:
Similar to many brands, the ongoing expansion into new retail markets by Hairitage is a way for the company to reach new consumers where they often shop. While Walmart remains the core retail outlet for Hairitage, the expansion to other channels continues to be part of the brand’s overall strategy.
“We’ve been listening to what the Hairitage community wants, and I’m so excited to expand into new retailers, making Hairitage more accessible to all families,” McKnight, Hairitage founder and CEO, said in a statement. “As one of the top hair care brands at Walmart, offered in the company of legacy brands that have been around for 15+ years, our expansion into Kroger, CVS and HEB will help us continue our mission to provide clean and high performing hair care products that are not only efficacious but also affordable.”
Selling exclusively through affiliated retail partners since it launched as a brand, Hairitage has broadened its product mix as the business has grown. The brand last April launched a bath and body collection, and a year ago Hairitage introduced an anti-dandruff collection. Hairitage expanded into Canada, through Walmart, in 2021.
McKnight first built her brand by sharing hairstyle tutorials on her Cute Girls Hairstyles YouTube channel, which launched in 2001. To date, McKnight has over 5.6 million subscribers on YouTube, 1.4 million Instagram followers and over 640,000 followers on TikTok.
McKnight’s social media platforms help the brand communicate new launches, product benefit and usage education, and engage with its target consumer. Hairitage’s primary audience is millennial moms, ages 25 to 40. As an inclusive hair care provider, the brand offers products for all hair types, ranging from 1A to 4C.
McKnight and beauty brand incubator Maesa, which launched Hairitage, first connected in 2018 and launched the hair care brand two years later.
“One of our core brands, Hairitage has been a big success since our launch back in 2020 and we’ve been excited to see it expanding across categories and now into more retailers,” Piyush Jain, Maesa CEO, said in an email. “Meeting unmet consumer needs has been our top priority and Hairitage delivers on this promise with clean, inclusive and high-performance formulas.”
