Retailers resisted $1 e.l.f. makeup fearing customers would trade down, says Shamah
Joey Shamah · e.l.f. Cosmetics: Joey Shamah. The Dollar Store Formula That Built a Cosmetics Giant · Jun 29, 2026 · at 16:08
Joey Shamah, co-founder of e.l.f. Cosmetics, describes the retail hesitation around carrying extreme value cosmetics.
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“One of our biggest obstacles in the early years was retailers afraid to put our product on shelves. Cause they didn't want to trade the customer down. If they're selling a six dollar lip gloss and I'm selling a dollar lip gloss and they customer buys mine over theirs, then they just lost five dollars of sales.”
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