Born in Long Island in the 1960s, Ian Ginsberg was an aspiring musician when he decided to pursue a career as a pharmacist. After attending pharmacy school in the early ‘80s and obtaining his license in 1985, Ginsberg focused on creating his own niche in the family business at C.O. Bigelow – the landmark West Village drugstore that was (and still is) a fixture of New York City culture.
Hailed by WWD as the “Apothecary Guru,” Ginsberg is responsible for successfully ushering the multigenerational business into the 21st century while still maintaining its heritage. He has also turned C.O. Bigelow into an illustrious, highly sought-after brand that’s recognized worldwide. Originally opened in 1838 and bought by Ginsberg’s grandfather in the late 1930s, the apothecary’s unmatched selection of global luxury beauty products offer a truly unique shopping experience that can’t be rivaled by the drugstore and beauty chains that now flood the city. An iconic beacon for hard-to-find favorites from around the world, C.O. Bigelow continues to attract some of the most famous NYC dwellers and visitors, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange, Elvis Costello, Hugh Jackman, Liv Tyler and Justin Theroux.
Ginsberg’s expert knowledge of what a true apothecary should be has not only kept the 183-year-old business relevant, but has also made it the one-of-a-kind global phenomenon that it is today. President of C.O. Bigelow, the third-generation pharmacist and businessman continues to expand the family brand. The store’s website, cobigelow.com, carries the entire line of C.O. Bigelow cosmetics and skincare products, as well as the coveted international items that stock the shelves of the free-standing store. C.O. Bigelow products can also be found at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and other prestige retailers around the globe, as well as in luxury hotel amenity programs worldwide. In recent years Ginsberg founded Bigelow Trading, a company that distributes multigenerational, family-owned heritage brands such as Marvis, Proraso and Carthusia to prestige retailers around the country.
In addition to his business pursuits, Ginsberg is an active community member, speaker and humanitarian. He is a board member and past Chairman of the Board for the Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors Association, current advisory board member of Revieve and has been an advisory board member for BEBOE, Violet Grey, Zipdrug, and CollegeFashionista. He is a frequent guest speaker and has spoken at New York University’s Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, the Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences of Long Island University, WWD Beauty Summit, HBA Global, CEW, FounderMade, Cosmoprof and the Downtown Project. Ginsberg is involved in many philanthropic activities including Memories Matter and Pink Promises, 2 charities he founded with his wife Stephanie to benefit the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation respectively.