Sales of health & beauty aids products in discount department stores are expected to reach $5.7 billion this year, $100 million over the year before, the product of a year-long gold mine of new tonnage items and more intense marketing of older ones.

Capitalizing on consumers' continuing interest in experimenting with grooming and appearance enhancing products, buyers say they are concentrating merchandising efforts on growing categories like mousses, contact lens care items, nail care products and cosmetics.

They are also taking advantage of the excitement generated by new packaging of toothpastes in pump containers.

The baby boom has been a blessing to retailers, too, with some discounters projecting up to 15% annual growth.

Seasonal items have also shown strong sales, driven in the cough and cold area by innovative new products and conversion of prescription drugs to over the counter (OTC) status, and in the sun prep area by heightened consumer awareness of the dangers of the sun and retailers' early jump on the season.

Tied to these category successes are chains'more careful attention to tying their promotions to manufacturer advertising blitzs and coupon drops.

Overall, industry sales are expected to reach $5.7 billion this year, up from $5.6 billion a year ago, with initial markup and gross margins inching upward and annual turns remaining flat. Initial markup is projected by DSN to move up to 26.6%, up from 26%, and gross margins are expected to rise to 21.9%, from 20.5%. The H&BA department should continue to turn 4.5 times in the year.

Helping the department along is the mousse category, which until recently was dominated by high- and middle-priced offerings. Now, a new crop of low end mousses priced under $2 should help sales of these products in discount stores climb even higher.

The contact lens care business is looking up, too, with trade sources pegging mass merchandisers' share of the retail market for auxiliary eye care products at 20% last year, up from 15% the year before.

While sales in nail enamels do a good steady business, the really hot items now are false nails and tips kits, with buyers talking about new self-adhesive nails that don't require separate tubes of glue to apply, as well as decorative decals and trimmings.

Discounters are also pushing another fun fad with their recent support of Wet 'n Wild, a budget cosmetics brand that appeals to teenagers with its offbeat shades, contemporary packaging and low price points.

The number of major manufacturers jumping on the pump toothpaste bandwagon has changed the shape of discounters' departments as buyers add new name brand additions like Aim, Colgate, Crest and Aquafresh, and cut facings in name brand tubes.

In the cough and cold category, new products were the name of the game. Many discounters are projecting 10% to 25% category growth from innovative category entries like cough whip and chewable tablets containing cough syrup and the conversion of Actifed and Sudafed to OTC status, as well as from strong sales in long-standing basics.

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