orlando, fla. -- This Avon rep wears a hard hat and carries a pile of company catalogs to his day job on a construction site, encouraging the men to buy their ladies a little something.
Perfume and lingerie are his top sellers. Oh, and he won't go a day without the women's wrinkle cream.
Meet Bobby McKinney. Your local Avon man.
"Forget the product, forget it's Avon. This is a very viable business," says the 58-year-old fire code inspector from Winter Haven, Fla. He rang up about $800,000 in sales last year along with his wife and has about 170 sales reps under him.
McKinney is one of a growing number of male salespeople for the New York-based beauty company. He's also part of a strategic move by Avon Products Inc. to broaden its appeal.
Sales to men and an increasing number of products for them have helped Avon's bottom line, with sales growing from about $6.2 billion in 2002 to $8.7 billion in 2006.
Yankees star Derek Jeter partnered with the company to create Driven, his line of products that includes cleansers, cologne, after-shave and deodorant. His cologne became Avon's bestselling men's fragrance of all time, and its second bestselling fragrance overall.
Avon recently produced its first men's catalog, which features a ProExtreme skin care line, boxer shorts and power tools. New recruiting brochures picture both men and women.
"Anti-aging is very intriguing to [men]," said Regina Dinisio, public relations manager of Avon fragrance. "They want no-hassle products, but they want to see the real benefits."
Industry experts say the men's market is ripe, though still in its early stages.
"We have seen that men are more interested in pampering themselves and taking better care of themselves overall," said Karen Grant, senior beauty industry analyst at market research company NPD Group Inc.
She's seen an increase in sales in the men's beauty market, along with a host of new products since 2003.
U.S. sales of men's skin care products totaled $68.9 million in 2006, up from $45.8 million in 2000. In comparison, women's skin care sold about $2.1 billion in 2006 and $1.7 billion in 2000, according to NPD.
Less than 13,000 of Avon's 650,000 representatives in the U.S. are male, though that figure is approximate because applicants are not required to state their gender. Competitor Mary Kay Inc. says 5,738 of its 700,000 sales reps are men.
