Coty taps beauty visionary Shannon Curtin for new consumer division

Former Walgreens beauty VP Shannon Curtin is joining Coty North America as senior vice president of its new Consumer Beauty division in May, the company announced Friday.

The move, effective May 23, comes as Coty prepares to complete its merger with P&G Specialty Beauty later this year. After the merger, Coty will be organized into three divisions: Coty Consumer Beauty, Coty Luxury and Coty Professional. Curtin will report to Esi Eggleston Bracey, the future president of Coty Consumer Beauty. The company said Curtin will be based in Coty’s New York office.

In an exclusive interview with Drug Store News, Curtin talked about what’s ahead for her at Coty.

“What makes me so excited about making this decision to come to Coty is that it has a great leadership team,” Curtin said. “And I’m excited to create innovation for the marketplace. Our job is to identify what consumers are asking for and to create products that will benefit them or complement their life. Our job at Coty will be finding the next innovation that will be great for our consumers.” 

Certainly, Curtin has quite a track record for innovating in the beauty space, previously serving as group VP of beauty and personal care at Walgreens, where she spearheaded the chain’s mission to become the “most loved” beauty destination in America. “Any savvy business person works hard to maximize share of wallet,” Curtin told DSN for the March 2015 cover feature, “Walgreens goes big in beauty.” “But becoming the most loved in the heart of your customer is something you have to work on every day.”

In her time with Walgreens, Curtin is widely credited for having made several important contributions that helped elevate Walgreens’ beauty business since joining the company in 2009, including the creation of Walgreens’ online Beauty University training program for its 26,000 in-store beauty advisers and the launch of a consumer magazine for its best customers, Discover Beauty Within.

“Shannon’s unique perspective of beauty from the insight of the retailer will ensure that our product development, sales approach and marketing are developed with our customers squarely at the center,” Bracey told Drug Store News. “She has a deep passion for beauty and track record of developing innovative in-store programs to drive engagement with our customers and delight consumers with high quality beauty products.”

After departing Walgreens, Curtin created a consulting firm specializing in assisting retailers, manufacturers and private equity firms with strategic planning, merger and acquisition assistance and corporate integration guidance. “I speak the retail language and I can be a trusted partner to retailers from the CPG side,” Curtin told DSN.

Curtin expounded on her vision for the category in a November 2014 DSN feature, profiling the top women executives in the industry. “In my opinion, the beauty business is one of the last romantic businesses,” Curtin told DSN. “It is a business based on trust, care and understanding the needs of another human being. It is not transactional in nature, but rather very emotional and personal.”

Prior to Walgreens Curtin spent nine years at Walmart in Bentonville, Ark., where she held various merchandising roles with the company, with a special emphasis in the beauty and personal care division.