Does seeing a prestige brand in a store like Target or CVS change your perception of it? More and more it seems that the high-end brands are ending up in the local drugstore and big-box retailer. WWD reports that Clarins, Kiehl's, Origins, Bare Escentuals and Bumble and bumble are now showing up in Target stores (I've also spotted Bumble and bumble at CVS). The WWD article points out that these brands, which spend a lot of money guarding their name and their prestige positioning, are likely ending up in these stores through the so-called gray market. As department stores close stores and consolidate product many of these items end up in Target even though these brands have no official business relationship with Target. Some of these items such as Bare Escentuals and Bumble and bumble are also available on the Target website.

Bare Escentuals has also shown up in Costco and the CEO, Leslie Blodgett, has declared that the company will be working to tighten its supply chain and keep its products out of these stores. Target has a makeup brand of its own. They've worked hard to develop the Sonia Kashuk cosmetics brand. But these high-end brands have an instant prestige. While hair care brands seem to be fighting a losing battle against keeping their brands in salons only (remember those Paul Mitchell ads admonishing consumers about buying the salon brand's products in drugstores), so far high-end skin care and cosmetics have been less likely to show up in your discount store.

Target is also in a unique position in that in some ways it might be attractive to prestige brands. It has an odd cachet, and its association with designers such as Isaac Mizrahi , Liz Lange, Michael Graves and Thomas O'Brien as well as the designers featured through the GO International program have drawn many luxury shoppers to Target to save money on the essentials. But is Target making a mistake by selling the high-end brands against the company's wishes? In the WWD article statements from Origins, Clarins and Bumble and bumble indicate that the brands are not pleased with their products ending up on the mass market. I wonder though, if these brands prove to be successful for Target if a deal might not be in the offing. In the long run it doesn't seem that introducing brands that you can only obtain through the gray market is a good strategy for a large chain. In both CVS and Target I have been excited to find a prestige brand in the stores, only to show up the next time and have it nowhere in sight, which is frustrating. Also, as a consumer, I am aware of the ethical considerations regarding fake merchandise but not so clear on whether or not finding a department store brand in a place it shouldn't be is a bad thing or not. Perhaps it falls to the companies to educate the consumer on why they should purchase these products only from certain retailers.