Clinique gives store makeover

The University may not be getting the Revlon Center, but there is a brand new Clinique counter at The Book Store. The addition is not the consolation prize it seems, though -- it is The Book Store's attempt to give students what they want. And the Clinique counter is a soft touch amidst the usual text books and t-shirts. It has white formica counters with mirror trim and sterile rows of liquids in pastel pink, green, yellow and purple. But it is not just pretty, it is smart, too. The 100 square-foot booth will sell the company's full line of skin-care products and make-up at the suggested retail price and offer students a convenient place to pick up the usual promotions. And it will go one step further. The University's Clinique counter will offer "Cyberface," an interactive guide to skin care and makeup. The company will distribute Cyberface floppy disks to all customers. The program, which can be used with a Macintosh or IBM DOS/Windows, will evaluate a customer's skin type and offer suggestions about skin care and makeup. Cyberface facilitates the search for the perfect cosmetic by making product listings and prices available with just the touch of a mouse. "It offers us a unique opportunity to bring in cosmetics with people who know what they're doing," The Book Store Director Mike Knezic said. "Education of students to the whole of skin care is what they're looking for." Clinique has successfully initiated similar ventures at universities across the country, including Yale and Princeton Universities and the University of California, Berkeley. And if purchase receipts from Monday, the counter's first day of operation, are any indicator of the company's future prospects at The Book Store, Clinique can add one more university to its success list. Knezic said the counter sold about $1,000 in products Monday even though the counter's opening was unpublicized. The project was initiated in November when Clinique approached the University about selling its products on campus. Revlon, another cosmetics company, contacted the University with a similar proposal at about the same time. And the timing was right. The Book Store had just finalized the plans for a partnership with My Favorite Muffin, the coffee shop projected to open in the store by the end of the month. And when they began renovating to accommodate the 750 square foot shop, it was clear that some rearranging could easily make room for the cosmetic center. So, books moved and walls were pushed back to make room for the Clinique counter -- as well as 16 feet of pegboard for Revlon products.

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