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LR Health & Beauty: From 5-man Business to Successful Global Player

For 35 years, LR Health & Beauty has been setting new standards with beauty and wellness products

Business Wire 13 luglio 202012:48

Celebrities who develop their own fragrances, black cars featuring the company logo and collaboration with well-known institutions such as Dermatest GmbH – this is what we associate with LR Health & Beauty nowadays. But back in 1985, the year LR was founded, things were still quite different. At the tender age of 25, miner Helmut Spikker, who left the company in 2005, founded “L’arôme Parfümerie- und Kosmetikartikel GmbH”. At first it was just a 5-man company that offered nothing but a number of perfumes and personal care products. On 17 September 1985, the company was renamed “LR Cosmetic”.

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For 35 years, LR Health & Beauty has been setting new standards with beauty and wellness products. It is one of Europe’s leading direct marketing enterprises, which means that all sales are conducted via independent sales partners. (Photo: Business Wire)

“This name would no longer be suitable these days, because our product portfolio has grown so much: In addition to perfumes and indulgent and beautiful cosmetics, our focus now lies on nutritional supplements, which make up around 60 % of our worldwide sales. ‘LR Health & Beauty’ is a more apt name,” explains Andreas Friesch, CEO and LR spokesperson. A lot has happened over the years, also with regard to the workforce. The company currently has around 1,200 employees, of whom roughly 700 are employed in Ahlen.

Based in Ahlen, at home in the world

The Westphalian mining town continues to play a crucial role for LR. For LR, Ahlen not only means home – Ahlen is also where the headquarters and control hub of the company are and where all the important decisions are made. Nevertheless, the company is now also at home across the world: in addition to the German market, LR currently sells its products in 27 other European countries. “Most of our sales partners, especially our long-term partners, have a very special relationship with LR. I am very glad about that. But we also want to interest new people in the LR business. Which means we need to take a close look at other markets,” says Friesch.

Quirky products and well-known celebrities as part of LR history

LR has reached many milestones in its 35-year history. These include the moment we started offering nutritional supplements (2000) and our best-selling Aloe Vera Drinking Gel (2002), the completion of our new company headquarters on Kruppstrasse in Ahlen after 20 months of construction (2002), the entry in the Guinness Book of Records (for creating the LR logo with 265 VW Polos; 2008), the foundation of the children’s charity LR Global Kids Fund (2009), receiving the award for best European direct sales company of the year (2015), the opening of our state-of-the-art aloe vera production plant (2018) and receiving the Ahlen economic award “Wirtschaftspreis der Stadt Ahlen” (2019).

In the fragrance segment, the company continues to work with top celebrities. With more than 30 names, the list of stars is already very long and keeps on growing. LR is currently collaborating with Guido Maria Kretschmer, Bruce Willis, Emma Heming-Willis and the Portuguese TV presenter Cristina Ferreira. “Whenever the stars appear at our events, it creates a total buzz among our sales partners," reveals Heursen.

Company continues to look ahead

Despite the many developments, one thing remains the same, even after 35 years: LR has been relying on direct marketing since 1985, which means that the products are sold directly through independent sales partners, who can in turn recruit, train and organise new sales partners. “The question we constantly ask ourselves is ‘How can we best support our partners with their business activities?’,” stresses Friesch. Without wanting to reveal too much, he offers a glimpse at the future: “We will continue to focus on innovative products. Since we are at home in direct marketing and manufacture many of our products ourselves, we are always keen to hear from our sales partners. They tell us what their customers want, which allows us to react particularly quickly to market needs – this proximity to customers and flexibility distinguishes us from many other competitors.”

LR Health & Beauty

Under the motto “More quality for your life“, the LR Group with headquarters in Ahlen/Westphalia produces and markets various health and beauty products in around 28 countries. The range includes care and decorative cosmetics, dietary supplements and perfumes. With its portfolio, LR Health & Beauty aims to enhance the physical health and wellbeing of people. That is why the company continuously develops new products – from the power of nature in combination with the latest scientific findings. The processing of Aloe vera has been one of the core competencies of LR Health & Beauty for more than 17 years. Only the valuable inside of the leaf is used for the products. In Ahlen, the company has established the most modern Aloe Vera production site for Aloe Vera Drinking Gels in Europe. In the fragrance segment, LR cooperates with national and international stars such as Guido Maria Kretschmer, Bruce Willis, Emma Heming-Willis and Cristina Ferreira. With 1,200 employees as well as thousands of registered sales partners and customers, LR is one of Europe’s leading direct sales enterprises. LR also established the LR Global Kids Fund e.V. which provides efficient and unbureaucratic support for deprived children and their families in many different countries around the world in cooperation with local institutions.