EXCLUSIVE: Sephora to Open Second London Store in November at Westfield Stratford City
SEPHORA STRIKES AGAIN: Sephora isn’t wasting any time expanding in the U.K., with plans to open its second London store in November at Westfield Stratford City in east London.
The multibrand beauty retailer owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton returned to the U.K. market last March after 18 years.
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The brand unveiled a 6,000-square-foot unit at Westfield White City in west London and tapped the Sugababes to perform live on the eve of the opening.
The shopfit was the first of its kind for the brand, with double-height ceilings, soft edges, textured finishes and tall green plants dotted here and there.
The curation has been done with an editor’s eye. Walking around feels like flipping through the pages of a glossy magazine with lots of slick branding, product news, exclusives, trends, recommendations and curated merchandise areas.
In total, there were more than 135 brands on offer in addition to a hub at the center of the store providing services ranging from fragrance bottle engraving to professional makeup, skin treatments and diagnostics.
Brands exclusive to Sephora U.K. include Makeup by Mario, GXVE by Gwen Stefani, One/Size by Patrick Starrr, Vegamour, Skinfix and Commodity.
The store also debuted brands in physical retail for the first time in the U.K., including Tarte (which has its own area near the front of the store) Glow Recipe, Supergoop, Danessa Myricks and Kosas.
The opening in March followed Sephora’s earlier purchase and rebranding of the e-commerce site Feelunique, which it had been using to feed, and monitor, the high demand coming from the U.K. market.
The retailer eventually unveiled an app, which it said has been met with “unprecedented demand.”
Sephora declined to comment further on its plans for the store at Westfield Stratford City, which opened in 2011 next door to the Olympic Park.
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