“The judge said that if L’Oreal wanted seriously “to stop diversion of Matrix products,” it could terminate those of its distributors who are the sources of the diverted products.” (read entire article here)

This is what hit me the hardest when I was reading the ruling handed down by a NY judege when he tossed the Loreal case versus Quality King, Why didn’t he state anything about the salon’s diverting the product? What about the guys that visit beauty salons and offer to pay you %5 over cost? Seems to me that the manufacturers know what is going on and are playing both sides of the fence… 

What irks me the most is when manufacturers bland the stylist and salons for not retailing to their clients and that is what is creating a market for the products elsewhere!

Think about it. How is it possible for collectors to visit salons and buy product from salons to then redistribute to mass retailers (drug stores, supermarkets, etc.)? I’ve been in the business for over 20 years and I have never had a collect call on me or any of the salons that I’ve worked in, but yet I’m to believe that when a manufacturer tells me that diversion is the salons fault for selling to collectors I have a difficult time believing that. Another point is that the retailers have deep stock of salon “only” products in EVERY store location in EVERY city across the COUNTRY! How are salons stocking these retailers when I’ve never been contacted? If I were to believe that salons are diverting they have to be a small number of salons and they would not be difficult to ferret out and cut them off. 

So, if it isn’t salons that are doing the diverting it leaves up one of two possibilities, the manufacturer or the distributor. The judge in the case of Loreal vs. Quality King states that it’s the distributors that are causing the diversion. So if this is the case, why doesn’t Loreal or other manufacturers cut the distributor off? MONEY. 

There is a known diverter of professional products in a southern state that the manufacturer wont cut off. I was told it was because the manufacturers fear of rebuilding the distribution chain in those southern states and the loss of sales and loss of salons, so they look the other way. ???

I’ve heard stories of manufacturers selling direct (from very reliable sources) to mass retailers or their suppliers, but only selling it to them every 4 months so that when the stylist sees the product in the drug stores, they report it to the sales person, who reports it to their superior and then when the product sells and inventory dwindles they can then enter the salon and tell the stylist that they have cut of the diverter and inventory is drying up and they are battling diversion on all fronts! Then the manufacturer sells it out the back door again and the process repeats all over again! This my friends is playing both sides of the fence, and we hairstylist and salon owners allow these kind of games to happen over and over again. Look no further than Jeri Redding. First he makes Jerimack, which was a professional line, he then whores out the hair stylist to build the name and then sells it to every KMart and mass market store across the country. The hairdresser dumps the line only to pick up Nexxus. Now, look where Nexxus is? Retail. Thank to the hairstylist and salon owner for building the reputation and name. 

I have heard other stories of a manufacturer shipping products to Europe, the ‘distributor’ will then turn the boat around and bring that “boat load” of product to the diverted market. If this happens once, shame of the European ‘distributor’, if this happens more than once, then shame on the manufacturer.

Counterfeit! I hear the angry crowd shout… Come on. You will have me believe that the product that I find in the drug stores across the country is counterfeit or ‘old’? That would be one hell of a manufacturing facility. Reminds me of a line in the movie “The Princes’ Bride”… “Inconceivable!”

How long will we, as an industry, allow this to happen. How many times will we support and build a brand, only to have them sell us out. 

A  short list off the top of my head of professional product lines that have gone retail. Pantene (yes that was a professional line at one time), Jerimack, Nexxus, Focus 21, Tressame’, and the king of sell outs Sassoon. I’m sure I’m going to get some hate mail for that last one, but it’s true. Sassoon sells out the hairstylist and we hail him like the messiah. 

What to do? Well, firstly we can throw out the offending lines and use and promote only those product manufactures that have integrity. That is our ONLY recourse. Complaining only allows the manufacturer to give us excuses and lie to us. War on Diversion! HOGWASH!!! 

That bring me to an related point. Why, as a salon owner or hairstylist would I use a product manufacturer that will compete directly with my salon? Case in point: Clariol. They manufacturer haircolor for the salon and manufacturer the exact same color for the over the counter drug store. There was a time that they used the exact same name! A second example: Aveda. They retail their products through hair salons, yet the compete directly with hair salon by opening their own Aveda stores in shopping malls across the country! Riddle me that, BATMAN!!!