Babor Cosmetics is continuing its retail push. The Aachen, Germany-based spa-oriented company opened the doors to what it calls its “flagship institute” in Berlin last week. Spa and shop in one, the new spot combines the retail focus Babor launched in March with its flagship in Hamburg together with full facilities for treatments, including microdermabrasion and skin analysis.
Built to Babor’s specifications in Gendarmenmarkt, a prime commercial and historic area near Galeries Lafayette Berlin and next door to iconic dining hot spot Borchardt, the company’s newest luxury institute is a partnership effort operated by Christiane Lingner, who has run a Babor spa in Berlin’s Friedrichshain neighborhood for 25 years.
“We’ve been thinking for a long time about the best way to showcase Babor here in Berlin,” Lingner said at the opening event.
Babor chief executive officer Michael Schummert called the partnership the perfect configuration.
“This is a flagship with international visibility, and together with her local network, it’s the ideal relationship,” he said.
Plans for bringing the new partnership-based shop-spa concept to Amsterdam, Zurich, London and Stockholm are already on the drawing board, kicking off in the next one to three years, Schummert told WWD. Babor already offers various partnership programs for spas that focus on training and treatments.
Present in cosmetic institutes luxury spas, and shops in more than 70 countries, Babor is perhaps best known for its ampoule-enclosed single-dose skin care. The company registered $180.5 million in beauty sales in 2014.