RETAIL BLUES: The Cosmetics Counter Was Long Immune to Discounting. Not Anymore.

A decade ago, shoppers would have been hard-pressed to find any Estée Lauder lipsticks, Bobbi Brown mascara or Shiseido blush on sale. These “prestige” brands are sold mainly at department and specialty stores and tend to be pricier than the so-called mass cosmetics sold at drugstores.

Department stores have long given prestige cosmetics prime space on the ground floors of their stores, and the brands confined their distribution to these emporiums.

But the retail landscape has shifted. Shoppers are increasingly skipping the mall to buy online. Specialty chains like Sephora and Ulta Beauty Inc. are siphoning away customers. Brands such as Estée Lauder, Clarins and Dior now sell to such chains as well as through their own websites.

Department stores have cut the fat. Now they’re cutting the meat.