Less than a year out from its launch, Novara is entering Nordstrom.
The skincare brand and 2023 Beacon Award winner arrives at 10 doors and online at the department store retailer today, which marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month. Reshona Jessamy, 37, founded Novara after surviving a suicide attempt at 28 years old. Twenty percent of the brand’s profits are dedicated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“I started taking care of myself in new ways,” she told Beauty Independent last year. “Formulating became my happy place, it helped me to forget my problems.” Discussing her brand’s new retail partnership, she adds, “Nordstrom’s mission is to make women feel good and look good, and that’s exactly what we’re doing with our mission through Novara, uplifting, empowering women, helping women become the best version of themselves.”
Nordstrom represents Novara’s first retail partnership. Jessamy gravitated toward the retailer in part because it’s signed the Fifteen Percent Pledge. Fifteen Percent Pledge is a nonprofit encouraging retailers to dedicate at least 15% of shelf space to Black-owned businesses. Jessamy says, “That says a lot about a company, showing that they’re standing behind BIPOC brands and supporting them in that way.”
“We plan to be one of those legacy brands right next to La Mer going strong.”
She was interested in a retail partner with customers accustomed to Novara’s prestige prices. The brand’s assortment contains six products priced from $75 to $155: Purifying Cleanser, Revitalizing Essence, Illuminating Serum, Resurfacing Serum, Ultra Hydrating Cream and Oil Free Ultra Hydrating Cream. In 2025, Novara plans to expand with an anti-aging collection. An eye cream and hyperpigmentation product are in the pipeline.
Referring to Nordstrom, Jessamy says, “Our products spoke to their customer demographic, the luxe feel of the products, the efficacy of the products, the price point of the products. One of the things they impressed in us is the Nordstrom customer is looking for an experience.”
Novara is introducing its entire assortment on Nordstrom’s website and in top-performing stores, including locations in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Hawaii, Tampa, Minneapolis and Oregon. Jessamy has hit the road to visit the locations to educate Nordstrom’s beauty advisors and supply gratis. Once she completes staff training, Novara’s director of sales and education, Tami McGown, will handle refresher sessions.
Jessamy says, “I really think that me as the founder showing up, telling them my story, having them touch and feel the products before we launch, and also, too, having them test the products is really important.”
Novara is pursuing a multi-pronged to raise awareness as it strategizes to build its Nordstrom business. The brand is tapping public relations agency DKC News to get it front of media. Jessamy has been collecting feedback from fans to feature in advertising and will collaborate with micro-influencers to present the brand to potential new customers. Lastly, the brand will be working with beauty experts to inform people about its ingredients and efficacy. Nordstrom will provide PR and marketing support, too.
“We have big dreams for the brand, and we’ve really ironed out what does success look like and what does that rollout look like,” says Jessamy. “The layered strategy I think is really setting us up for that.”
Novara is self-funded. Jessamy is open to raising investment for the brand in the future and believes doing so will be essential to growing its retail footprint both at Nordstrom and other prestige retailers. She envisions Novara heading to Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bluemercury and Cos Bar.
“We made the strategic decision to start small with 10 doors because we want to grow responsibly and profitably,” says Jessamy. “We plan to be around for 50 years. We plan to be one of those legacy brands right next to La Mer going strong.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.