"It's a trophy on wheels," said Randall Oxford, a Mary Kay Cosmetics Inc. spokesman. Oxford was in Moscow for Thursday night's gala opening of a new distribution center. "They are very proud of them. As Mary Kay likes to say, 'You never see a spot of dust on one of them.'"
In Russia, however, you won't see any pink Mary Kay Cadillacs, even though some Russian sales consultants are well on their way to qualifying.
"It is pretty much like hanging a sign out and saying 'Rob me,'" said Julie Rasmussen, the head of Mary Kay's wholly owned Russian subsidiary. She ruled out as similarly provocative the substitution of a pink Lada or Moskvich.
"We feel it would just be too high-profile and put our people at too high a risk," said Rasmussen. "We do have some people who would soon be eligible for that -- the pink Cadillac -- by the end of next year."
Consultants must sell Mary Kay products with a wholesale value of $85,000 within a 6-month period to qualify. The fact that there is concern at all over the Cadillac reflects the rapid growth of Mary Kay's first year of Russian operations which ended in September.
Mary Kay's Russian beauty consultants set an international first-year record by racking up $9 million in sales, Oxford said. The 2,500 Russian consultants' average sales figures are higher than any of their counterparts in the 22 other countries where Mary Kay operates.
Rasmussen said Thursday's public opening of a 1,500-square-foot distribution center on Kuznetsky Most comes at a time when "we have reached a certain critical mass, and it is hard to hide anyway."
Until now, the firm has deliberately kept a low profile, facilitated by its technique of selling at beauty consulting sessions in homes and offices rather than through advertising and retail stores. Mary Kay officials tout the sales style as a way of giving Russian women -- men are not allowed to be beauty consultants -- flexible hours and an opportunity to gradually build a career.
Consultants working in 40 cities from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok earn an average of $300 to $400 a month from sales of products like a 2.5-ounce container of skin moisturizer costing $17.50, Rasmussen said. One top consultant recently took home over $10,000 in one month, putting her within striking distance of a pink Cadillac, were she not living in Russia.
While Mary Kay managers have no plans to give Cadillacs or other luxury cars to their star performers, Rasmussen said an alternate scheme will be worked out. In the meantime, rewards like diamond-and-gold bumblebee pins and trips to Mary Kay's Dallas headquarters are being offered.
Someday, Oxford said, Mary Kay herself may come to Russia.
But a visit for Thursday's grand opening was not possible. "She would love to be here, but it is too difficult for her to travel," Rasmussen said. "She is no longer able to make long trans-Atlantic flights."
Oxford declined to reveal his boss's age, saying: "I guess I should quote Mary Kay. She says, 'A woman who will tell you her age will tell you anything.'"
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