It has been a year of milestones for the Japanese beauty company Yoshitsu Co Ltd (NASDAQ:TKLF). Yoshitsu is a retailer and wholesaler of beauty and health products that saw a year of growth despite difficulties in the market.

The beauty industry is growing, worth over $90 billion in China and $131 billion in Europe. Meanwhile, North America continues as its largest market at $364.8 billion. Traditional stores, especially pharmacies, still represent the largest segment of beauty and health product sales, though there is an increasing shift towards e-commerce that was partially motivated by the lockdowns of the past few years. Companies in the beauty and health space have looked to seek new solutions in 2022 to meet the changing market needs.

One company that struggled was New York personal care icon Revlon (OTC:REVRQ). The company had a tough year, first filing for bankruptcy before being suspended and delisted by the New York Stock Exchange in October, 2022. 

Parisian personal care company L’Oreal SA (OTCPK: LRLCY) started a research and development (R&D) collaboration with Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) subsidiary Verily to better understand skin health and aging processes. 

American company Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) saw a net increase of income of 17% in the first half of 2022, and also launched its Beauty& campaign to revolutionize the beauty industry and change perspectives on how to understand beauty and health wellbeing.

Tokyo-based Yoshitsu Co. saw its product portfolio of cosmetics, skincare, fragrances, and cosmetic applicators expand to sauces, condiments, and various food products. Despite market challenges resulting from strict Japanese and Chinese lockdowns, Yoshitsu expanded in the past year, opened more physical locations, and saw record company growth. 

A Series of Successes? 

Tourist Locations. COVID was tough for companies as Japan was closed to tourists for two years following the pandemic. But when Japan opened up its borders, Yoshitsu was there. It opened various pickup locations, offering duty-free cosmetics to entice tourists, with sites at its Urawa and KoshigayaRyutsudanchi stores in Saitama, as well as in Nagano.

Wholesale Success. The company has also handled market challenges by capitalizing on its robust network of 200+ wholesale partners. 95% of its revenue came from online stores, franchised stores and wholesale operations in 2021. 

To learn more about Yoshitsu, visit its website. 

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Featured photo by siriwat sriphojaroen on Shutterstock.