Ulta Beauty to leave downtown Naperville at month’s end
Ulta Beauty is leaving downtown Naperville at the end of the month.
March 30 will be the store’s last day, an Ulta Beauty spokesperson confirmed Thursday. The store is closing because it has reached the end of its lease at 103 S. Washington St., the spokesperson said in a texted response.
However, they assured that Ulta “will continue to have a presence in Naperville.”
Naperville has a second Ulta location at West Ridge Court, 2707 Aurora Ave. “(We) look forward to welcoming guests” at the other store, which is just three miles away from downtown, the spokesperson said.
Ulta is the largest beauty retailer in the United States. As of January 2023, it operated 1,355 stores across the country, with more than four dozen in Illinois alone, according to its website.
Headquartered in Bolingbrook, the company was founded in 1990, according to Forbes.
Ulta’s departure from its Washington Street location is the latest in a string of closures in Naperville’s downtown.
In January, BD’s Mongolian Grill was closed by its corporate owners after nearly three decades operating at 221 S. Washington St. Barnes & Noble closed its downtown location at 47 E. Chicago Ave. the same month.
Speaking to the closures, Katie Wood, executive director of the Downtown Naperville Alliance, said, “The retail and restaurant landscape is constantly evolving — regardless of where it’s located. Downtown Naperville is not insulated from the natural cycle of retail.”
She added that although “we are always sad to see a business close, we are equally optimistic about what is to come.”
There is active interest in downtown Naperville, she said.
“Our occupancy rate is high,” she said, “and interest in ‘Main Street America’ even higher.”
