:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/HJGFHTSGMQNCNNI4A6HTTCB2XE.jpg)
DIXON – Marshall Salon Services, a local beauty products supplier with 275 employees in four states, has announced its sale to a division of French cosmetics giant L'Oréal.
About 100 of Marshall's employees work in the Dixon distribution center, which has been acquired by Florida-based SalonCentric, a division of L'Oréal USA.
Jim Marshall, president and former owner Marshall Salon Services, said all jobs are secure for the time being.
"All of our employees are transitioning over to L'Oréal," he said, adding that he views the sale "as a chance to grow the business," which sells 37 salon-only brands, including L'Oréal, to stylists and barbershops in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
"We're very excited for the opportunities for all of our employees and our customers," he said.
Marshall declined to release terms of the deal, and SalonCentric did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Marshall Salon Services is one of two major Midwest distributors that L'Oréal bought on Tuesday. The other is Maly's Midwest, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company, according to a L'Oréal news release.
Together, the two businesses have nearly 700 employees and sell about $130 million worth of beauty supplies each year to 40,000 hair salons in eight states.
In the news release, L'Oreal said that the two acquisitions are the most recent in a 3-year push to give L'Oréal International access to the American hair salon market.
Marshall said the sale came after several months of talks with SalonCentric.
"We've highly respected what they do, and they've highly respected what we do, and I think as two business leaders, the sum of the total is greater than the individual."
About Marshall Salon Services
Dixon-based Marshall Salon Services has been acquired by SalonCentric, a division of Paris-based L'Oréal International, it was announced Tuesday.
The family company has been a part of Dixon since the 1920s, when Salon Services President Jim Marshall's grandfather John "Jack" Marshall opened a barbershop on Chamberlin Street, where Grace United Methodist Church is now located.
Jack Marshall founded a hair tonic and shampoo business in his basement in 1932, and the company has grown from there. It now sits in a 7,000-square-foot building at 629 Palmyra St.
Source: www.loreal.com and newspaper archives