How Can Men Smell Good? Bath & Body Works Bets on Male Skin Care

To maintain growth, it's rolling out products to lure millennial and Gen Z guys into its female-focused stores.

Leslie Patton

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Female-focused personal-care products such as Gingham Gorgeous shower gel (which promises fragrance notes of pink strawberries, peach nectar and peony blooms) and "undeniably feminine" Japanese Cherry Blossom mist spray have for years made Bath & Body Works Inc. a go-to mall destination for women shoppers. Now the chain is trying to entice a very different clientele for its exfoliating face washes and body sprays: men.

The beauty and fragrance retailer is expanding its men's line, betting on guys paying up for $14 beard oil and $15 face cream infused with hyaluronic acid, among other items. The success of the new grooming products, now being sold in all 1,800 of the chain's US and Canadian stores, is crucial for the company to maintain its pandemic-driven sales boom in the face of relentless inflation and growing economic uncertainty that's curbing consumer spending. More male-targeted products, including shaving gel and shampoo, are coming in September.