DALLAS – Kimberly-Clark Corp. is expanding its Huggies line of diapers to include shampoo, lotion, a cream for rashes and a baby powder that goes on wet and dries on the skin.
The company said Monday it would assemble more than 20 toiletry items under the Huggies Bath &Body Products banner and make them widely available at major U.S. and Canadian retailers by early next year.
Kimberly-Clark introduced a Huggies washcloth and baby wash in January. The company said the new line would make Huggies the only brand with products in diapers, training pants, wipes and toiletries.
Stephen Atkinson, an analyst with BMO Nesbitt Burns, said Kimberly-Clark faced the challenge of getting consumers of other brands of baby products to switch. He said names such as Johnson &Johnson baby shampoo have their own loyal followings.
“Huggies does have a well-known brand name, but this is a completely different business and a very competitive market,” Atkinson said. “You have to change the mother’s buying habits.”
Kimberly-Clark’s last major product introduction, wet toilet wipes on a roll – an alternative to regular toilet paper – was a disappointment. Within two years of its 2001 launch, sales were insignificant, the company acknowledged, and rival Procter &Gamble Co. killed a similar product.
This year, Kimberly-Clark rolled out a variety of Kleenex tissues treated with an anti-viral mixture. The company plans to spend $30 million promoting the brand during the upcoming flu season.
Kimberly-Clark, based in suburban Dallas, makes Kleenex tissues, Scott paper towels, Pull-Ups training pants and Kotex feminine-hygiene products. It earned $1.69 billion on sales of $14.35 billion last year. However, the company’s sales of personal-care products, including diapers, have grown more slowly than sales of tissues and other goods.
For many of its products, the chief rival is Procter &Gamble, whose brands include Pampers diapers, Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet paper.
Shares of Kimberly-Clark rose 15 cents to close at $63.87 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.
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