The two leading specialist beauty chains in the US – Ulta Beauty and Sephora – have breathed new life into the strategy of opening concept stores in retail chains.
A few weeks ago, Ulta announced a mega-deal with Target to roll out an initial 100 store-in-stores. Sephora has followed suit with a new partnership with Kohl’s, the largest department store chain in the US with 1,158 locations.
Sephora has long been present in J.C. Penney department stores and revised the agreement earlier this year, prior to a wind-down of the partnership in 2023.
Sephora will open at least 850 concept stores throughout Kohl’s network by 2023 to replace the J.C. Penney deal.
The first 200 will open by the Northern Hemisphere Autumn next year and Sephora will launch as the exclusive online beauty partner on kohls.com
It’s a win-win for both companies. Sephora’s aim is to grow its customer base and Kohl’s is looking to entice new and younger shoppers.
Each store will measure 232 square metres and offer more than 100 brands. The staff will be Sephora-trained beauty advisors.
Sephora will continue to open standalone stores in the US. Its target of 100 stores by the end of this year was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, but will resume in 2021.