1999 Courtesy Photo
1999:
Marla and Barry Beck open Bluemercury as a start-up e-commerce site, with $1 million in seed money.
2000 Courtesy Photo
2000:
The Becks learn the world isn’t quite ready for a beauty e-tailer. Bluemercury’s first retail store opens, in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood. (A Harvard Business School study credits the company with coining the term “clicks to bricks.”)
2001 Courtesy Photo
2001:
Store number three opens, in Philadelphia — the first outside of the D.C. market.
2004 Courtesy Photo
2004:
Bluemercury serves its one-millionth customer and opens its first spa, a 10,000-square-foot location at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.
2005 Courtesy Photo
2005:
The Becks partner with private equity investor Invus Group to close the deal on a growth capital investment. Store number 10 opens, this one in Westfield, N.J.
2007 Courtesy Photo
2007:
Bluemercury sells its one-millionth lipstick and opens its first California store, in Corte Madera.
2008 Courtesy Photo
2008:
If you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere: Bluemercury’s first New York City store opens on the Upper West Side.
2010 Courtesy Photo
2010:
The retailer acquires the U.S. operations of Douglas Parfumerie chain.
2012 Courtesy Photo
2012:
After 10 years of research and development, Marla Beck introduces M-61 Powerful Skincare. Later that year, the brand sets a world record with the first serum to successfully ascend Mount Everest.
2013 Courtesy Photo
2013:
M-61’s best-selling PowerGlow Peel, a one-minute, one-step exfoliating peel pad, launches. By 2018, one pad is sold every 2.4 seconds.
2014 Courtesy Photo
2014:
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the company, Washington, D.C.’s city council declares Sept. 15 “Bluemercury Day.”
2015 Courtesy Photo
2015:
Macy’s buys Bluemercury for $210 million — in cash. Marla Beck launches Lune + Aster Cosmetics, a line of vegan makeup.
2016 Courtesy Photo
2016:
Store 100 opens, in Savannah, Ga.
2017 Courtesy Photo
2017:
Bluemercury opens its flagship at the New York Hilton Midtown, featuring AI mirror technology and one-hour delivery in Manhattan. Also that year, Harvard Business School updates its case study on Bluemercury, and invites the Becks to teach the case.
2018 Courtesy Photo
2018:
In a busy year, Leonard A. Lauder presents the Becks with the lifetime achievement award at the New York City Dreamball. Meanwhile, the couple also create the Beck Entrepreneurship Fellows Program at Cornell University, providing funding and support to students who are pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities.
2019:
Bluemercury turns 20.
