Hair care maintains leadership spot in cosmetic sales.

Buoyed by a never ending stream of new ingredients, inventive new marketing efforts, styling changes (most generated by the salon business), and the activities in selling these products by salons and department stores, the haircare/hair styling business continues to demonstrate solid strength and growth. As with every segment of the cosmetic business, statistical sources vary in numbers as well as reliability, but in most areas there were few indications of weakness.

Mass market figures were once again easiest to come by. Chain Drug Review even had the temerity to tally 1993 figures as early as January, adding up relatively modest percentage gains to come up with a category total of $4.47 billion for supermarkets, discounters, drug stores and combination stores. That figure consists of $1.59 billion in shampoos, $855 million in conditioners, $586 million in hair sprays, $426 million in hair styling, $789 million in hair coloring, $107 million in mens hair preparations, $122 million in home permanents. Total mass volume was estimated to have fallen in men's hair preparations (by 9.3 percent), hair styling products (2.1 percent), home perms (1.6 percent) and hair sprays (4.2 percent). Shampoos grew a thin 1.6 percent, conditioners a diaphenous .5 percent.

Shampoos, ever the bell-weather of the category, provide an indicator of where the business is. Drugstores held onto about a third of the shampoo business, an even higher percentage (40) of the conditioner market. Supermarkets saw their percentage of the shampoo business slide from 29 percent in 1991 to 23 percent last year, while discounters vaulted to 23 percent (from 18 percent two years earlier). …