Prescriptives to Close!

Estée Lauder announced today that it
will shutter Prescriptives, the 30-year old skincare brand. An
email, which was sent out to Lauder employees at 5:01 PM from William Lauder and
Fabrizio Freda, stated that global wholesale distribution of Prescriptives will
cease by January 31, 2010. The brand's website will remain open until products
run out. You can view the full press release here.

The email stated: "As we outlined in our
long-term corporate strategy, we are evaluating, and where possible, working
hard to turn around under-performing brands. After a thorough analysis of the
Prescriptives brand, we have concluded that the brand's long term business model
is no longer viable in the current market environment."

“A core component of the Estée Lauder
Companies’ corporate strategy is to evaluate, and where possible, turn around
underperforming brands with the goal of improving return on investment. After a
thorough analysis of the Prescriptives brand, management concluded that the
brand’s long-term business model is no longer viable given the current market
environment. We believe that the difficult decision relating to Prescriptives
will allow us to redirect our resources to key strategic imperatives where we
see the highest growth potential,” said Freda.