Tupperware, Avon Are Booming

Newsweek.com:

It’s a cold February night in Manhattan and some 40 women are assembled in a sprawling and tastefully appointed apartment, many with pink martinis in hand. Their attention is focused on an unusually large woman standing at one end of the living room. Batting her fake eyelashes, she picks up a square container from the colorful stack of plastic behind her and asks, “Ladies, where do you like to put your big meat?”

The woman is actually Robert Suchan, a 42-year-old Tupperware consultant who has developed a drag persona, a.k.a. Your Aunt Barbara. It’s an alter ego that Suchan created, complete with big bouffant hair, nail extensions, and not so subtle wardrobe, to help him become one of Tupperware’s leading sales consultants in the U.S. Standing out, even if it requires six-inch heels, is essential these days, says Suchan.

The nation’s unemployment rate is hovering at 10.6 percent, but direct-sales companies like Tupperware, Avon, and Mary Kay are thriving and continue to draw in new salespeople. Mary Kay has seen a 22 percent increase in global sales consultants between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. Tupperware, thanks in large part to a strong expansion into global markets, saw a surge in sales reps internationally two years ago, from 1,851,450 in 2007 to 2,275,934 in 2008, and continued to see growth in 2009. Likewise, Avon’s ranks have swelled from 5.8 million total sales reps in 2008 to 6.4 million in 2009, with a 3 percent boost in North American reps, which was a slightly greater jump than the previous year. And while individual sales may be smaller, business is booming, thanks in part to these growing international markets. The global Tupperware team helped boost fourth-quarter 2009 sales by 20 percent. Meanwhile, Avon reported a 13 percent increase in revenue between fourth-quarter sales of 2008 and 2009—a cool $269 million dollars in profit.

For some of today’s direct-sales consultants, selling plastic wares, makeup, and other home accessories is not a hobby. It’s a significant source of income, say direct-sales firms.

Logo from Tupperware

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