It's hard to be a female Millennial these days. In addition to the general hardships that come with being both a woman and a Millennial in this world, every day it seems like the memories of our childhoods are crumbling around us.
Beloved teen retailer Delia's filed for bankruptcy in early December and announced its plans to liquidate its remaining merchandise. Wet Seal also announced its closing of about two-thirds of its locations earlier this month. And now we unfortunately have to add one more favorite from our pre-teen lives to the chopping block.
The Bonne Bell Co., the cosmetic company behind the popular Lip Smacker lip balm, is closing, Cleveland.com reports. Bonne Bell's Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Robert Evans initially broke the news in a letter to Mayor Dennis Clough of Westlake, Ohio on Wednesday. He also wrote that 91 employees will be permanently laid off.
The family owned and operated company was founded in 1927 by Jesse G. Bell. Lip Smacker was introduced in 1973 as a way to soothe dry lips with some flavor, too. Before the more than 800 different flavors of Lip Smacker hit our lips, the first was strawberry, which helped make Lip Smacker the first flavored lip balm in the world.
Since its founding, Bonne Bell has always targeted the youth market. Don't you have fond memories of begging your mom to buy you one of those three-packs of delish-sounding flavors while grocery shopping? If you had one of these colorful sticks as a keychain dangling from your backpack at school, you were kind of a big deal.
I remember feeling over the moon when I snagged a cookie dough-flavored Lip Smacker in a goodie bag from a friend's birthday party. I think Lip Smacker is also responsible for my first feeling of heartbreak when that stick accidentally made its way into the wash, completely destroying it but not any of the laundry, thankfully. Le sigh. My lips are feeling uncomfortably chapped just thinking about this sad news.
However, it's not time to raid your local drug store to stock up on dougnut-flavored lip balm just yet. California-based cosmetics company Markwins International Corp. will acquire Lip Smacker and Bonne Bell, according to a news release. Bonne Bell will change its name to Bell Family Brands, and the company still owns its 10.0.6 skin care brand, Crain's Cleveland Business reported. Bonne Bell's distribution affiliate Aspire Brand will also keep selling Lip Smacker in Europe, Australia and Asia.
Markwins International Corp. currently owns such youth-approved makeup brands as wet n wild and Physicians Formula, so Lip Smacker is in good hands. Still, with any new company takeover, there are bound to be changes. For now, let's all just raise our Dr. Pepper-flavored sticks and smear it on our lips for old time's sake.
Image: twitchery / Flickr
