The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2010–2024
Consonant Skin+Care closed after 16 years — pandemic losses and wholesale squeeze
A Toronto natural skincare brand survived 16 years with no outside investors, then collapsed when wholesale partners demanded discounts it could not afford.
Consonant Skin+Care · 2024-12-20
What happened
Consonant Skin+Care was a Toronto-based Canadian skincare brand founded in 2010 by Bill Baker, who created the company after his own struggles with dry skin and eczema. The brand offered 35 natural, clinically proven, Canadian-made products priced between $12 and $78. It grew through a mix of direct-to-consumer and wholesale channels, with 40% of sales coming from wholesale partners.
The brand never fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. As the retail environment shifted, wholesale partners increasingly demanded deep discounts, which President Kristina Breckon described as 'a race to the bottom with pricing.' The company had no outside investors, so it could not absorb the margin compression indefinitely.
On November 4, 2024, founder Bill Baker announced via Instagram that Consonant would close by the end of the year. The brand carefully scheduled the closure, holding a warehouse sale on December 8 and discounting remaining inventory 50%. The company ensured it had sufficient funds to operate through the wind-down process and was noted for approaching its closure with transparency and integrity. Consonant ceased operations on December 20, 2024.
Why it happened
- 40% of Consonant's revenue came from wholesale, where partners demanded ever-deeper discounts — the pricing pressure was described as 'a race to the bottom' that the brand could not win.
- The brand never recovered from the pandemic disruption. With no outside investors, it had no capital buffer to weather the post-pandemic retail downturn.
- Consonant operated without outside investment for 16 years, which meant independence but also meant there was no reserve to absorb a multi-year revenue decline.
The lesson
A brand that depends on wholesale for 40% of revenue is at the mercy of its retail partners. Without capital reserves, a race to the bottom on pricing is a death sentence.
Sources
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