Hair care company Glimmr lost $1 million worth of product ahead of holiday deliveries as a result of a sophisticated cargo theft, the company’s founders announced yesterday via social media.
“On Wednesday, December 17, we were expecting a delivery to our warehouse of a 40-foot container with 24,000 hair marks on it,” Glimmer co-founder Liv McGuire said in an Instagram post. “The container never arrived.”
The container held almost $1 million worth of the beauty company’s signature superfood-infused hair care products for damaged hair, meant to go out to customers who preordered during Black Friday.
According to Transmodal, the freight company contracted to handle the logistics and delivery of Glimmr’s product, thieves impersonated a legitimate driver, spoofed phone numbers, and faked GPS tracking to take possession of the shipping container. The fake information provided made it seem as if the delivery was business as usual, until communications ceased days later.
An Inc.com Featured Presentation
“Now, the latest update I got was that the truck that was contracted to pick up that load was actually not the truck that picked it up, and instead a different truck impersonating the trucking company that was supposed to pick it up,” Glimmr co-founder and CEO Colin McGuire told Inc. on December 23.
The company’s founders are currently working with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and other government agencies in an ongoing investigation, although they say product recovery seems unlikely. Still, government agencies told McGuire this type of crime is increasingly common, as he has found out.
“I have probably a dozen other people who have reached out to me and said the same thing happened to me, or it happened to my friend, or it happened to my sister who has a consumer good startup,” McGuire says.
Just last year, famed restaurateur Guy Fieri had 24,240 bottles of his tequila brand stolen in an elaborate heist during transport.
In the midst of the investigation, McGuire has now learned that small consumer goods with a social media following are more at risk, and he urges other business owners to stay aware.
“Brands that are really popular on social media look larger than they are, and they’re being targeted in these situations,” he says. “They want to steal stuff that they think is going to be pretty easy to resell online.”
As Glimmr navigates a complex situation, dealing with law enforcement, customers, and obligations with large retailers like Target, the company is offering vouchers and working with manufacturers to acquire new supply.
“They are working double shifts around their holiday schedule to rush 23,000 masks that will arrive by January 2, with another 10,000 to follow by January 5,” Liv McGuire said in the social media video. The new batch is set to fulfill obligations with Target and its customers, but the loss is still impactful for the small business.
Colin McGuire explained that insurance will not cover everything—it will only pay for the manufacturing cost and transportation fees, not the total retail price tag. The estimated retail value is around $950,000 and is not insured.
“For a lot of these small businesses, especially if you have a long supply chain, or if you don’t have great gross margin, it’s incredibly valuable to insure your load for retail value,” he says.
Additionally, McGuire says it is vital for business owners to get access to legal advice or experts who can help guide them through a complex process like dealing with insurance or figuring out damages from companies with different agreements.
“There are a lot of questions that you’re trying to figure out, like ‘How am I going to pick up the pieces?’” he says. “It’s just really important that you’re getting clear information from people that you know and who understand how this stuff works.”
Go inside one interesting founder-led company each day to find out how its strategy works, and what risk factors it faces. Sign up for 1 Smart Business Story from Inc. on Beehiiv.
