Cover Girl Chili

Noxell tries specialty foods

While the cosmetics industry for the past year has generally been sagging, Noxell has been smiling like one of its prettiest models. Its Cover Girl makeup is among the hottest major lines of cosmetics in the U.S., and a third generation of customers is now snapping up little blue jars of Noxzema facial cream, which first went on the market nearly 70 years ago. Last year sales for the company, based in Cockeysville, Md., climbed 12% to $262 million, and profits totaled $18.5 million. From 1978 through 1982, Noxell's earnings grew 15% annually. Now Noxell is going to see whether success in cosmetics can be transferred to specialty foods.

Noxell has carefully cultivated an image of wholesome, All-American beauty ever since 1914, when Dr. George Bunting cooked up the first batch of Noxzema skin cream in a coffeepot in his Baltimore pharmacy. Originally intended as a sunburn remedy, the blend of clove and eucalyptus oils, lime water, menthol and camphor also proved to be an excellent skin cleanser. In 1929, Admiral Richard Byrd took it along on his expedition to the South Pole. G.I.s during World War II and the Korean War used Noxzema for shaving. Today, when skin-care products are the fastest-growing segment of the cosmetics business, Noxzema is still one of the top-selling facial creams. Noxell has also spun off such Noxzema products as an acne lotion and a shaving cream.

A succession of superstar models, including Cheryl Tiegs and Christie Brinkley, has provided the All-American look for Noxell's Cover Girl line. The company spends heavily to get those faces seen. It has long put about 20% of annual sales into advertising.

But it is marketing savvy more than just a pretty face that has made Noxell products winners. The company, for example, broke industry tradition in 1961 when it began selling Cover Girl cosmetics in supermarkets, drugstores and discount centers rather than department stores. It also successfully went its own way by marketing a Limited number of shades for four basic Cover Girl products: lipstick, nail polish, eye makeup and facial makeup. Noxell's competitors usually load up store shelves with a bewildering array of choices. Noxell's policy allows it to hold down costly inventories. According to a report by Merrill Lynch, "Cover Girl has the fastest inventory turnover at retail of any major cosmetics Line."

Noxell is in its third generation of family control. Lloyd Bunting took over management of the company from his founding father in 1949; Lloyd's son, George Bunting Jr., 44, has been president since 1973. The family still owns about 80% of Noxell's voting stock. The latest Bunting has three teen-age sons, but he says, "I don't know if any of them will join the business."

Noxell is now undergoing a major expansion program. Nearly every year since Bunting took over, he has brought out new products or added to existing Lines. Among these new entries: RainTree hand and body lotion, Lestoil deodorizing rug shampoo and Noxzema antiseptic skin cleanser. This year the company will introduce a new line of Lipstick.

Bunting intends to venture still further afield by going into the specialty-food business. A month ago, he made his opening move by buying the Texas-based Caliente Chili, a seasonings manufacturer. Other acquisitions are expected to follow. Says Leslie Schek, a Noxell senior vice president: "We are looking at specialty foods that will be premium priced and can be sold as gourmet items." It is only appropriate that Noxell is launching its expansion with a firm whose name in Spanish means hot. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.