Toronto-based beauty company Deciem has just opened its first store location, and it has ambitious plans to expand the concept globally. The company plans to open about 30 stores worldwide within the span of a year, with even more to follow in 2017.

Deciem prides itself on being unique, calling itself “The Abnormal Beauty Company”. It features nine beauty brands under its corporate umbrella, ranging in price-point and focus. The company was founded by Brandon Truaxe in 2013 and has seen remarkable success, with its products being carried at more than 20,000 stores in 18 countries. Remarkably, the United Kingdom is currently Deciem's largest market, despite the company being Canadian. Global revenues are substantial and are more than twice what they were last year -- with only about 3% of those sales being in Canada. Canada will soon represent a higher percentage of sales, however, as the company begins opening freestanding stores.

Deciem recently earmarked about $10 million initially for its global store expansion, after it sold its 'Grow Gorgeous' hair care brand to Britain's The Hut Group. The company’s first freestanding store location in the world opened this month on Canada's 'coolest street', at 881 Queen Street West in Toronto. The roughly 1,000 square foot flagship features displays for the company’s nine beauty brands in a bright, friendly environment featuring hardwood flooring, tiled white walls, and simple display racks featuring individual brands. Jackson Turner of CBRE’s Toronto Urban Retail Team represented Deciem in negotiations with the landlord for the Queen Street store.

Deciem plans to open stores globally, and will soon open locations in Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) as well as in Seoul, South Korea. The company is looking to expand globally into the UK, United States, Spain and Mexico, among other countries. Mr. Truaxe said that he’d like to have multiple locations in each major city it enters. "Toronto and all of Canada are high priorities for us in terms of retail expansion partly because Canada is our home and partly because the Canadian retail landscape in beauty is dysfunctionally behind the times" he said.

A second Toronto store will open later this year, and more are expected to follow. David Wedermire and Stan Vyriotes of DWSV Remax Ultimate Realty Inc. are representing Deciem in its Canadian expansion negotiations, as well as selected international markets.

Mr. Truaxe explained that he's looking to expand the brand "opportunistically", and that part of the company's strategy is to gain brand awareness from establishing several store locations in each city, before moving into new markets. He explained that storefronts also act as 'advertising' for the brand, as well as providing a comfortable environment for consumers to be educated on products.

We'll follow up this topic with another article in a few months as Deciem becomes established with stores in Canada, as well as globally. All photos are of the Toronto Queen Street store.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web: July 21, 2016