Sephora Is Coming Back to a Market It Left Long Ago

The beauty chain exited has stayed away from the United Kingdom for nearly 18 years.

When frequent travelers came to London, they often noticed the absence of a chain that is ubiquitous in many other countries.

While French beauty retailer Sephora has over 2,700 stores in countries like the U.S., Canada, Mexico, China, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, Spain, Malaysia and Australia, it famously left the United Kingdom in 2005 after struggling to justify high urban rents with low demand among strong competition from the nation's beauty market -- between the time it entered the United Kingdom in 2000 and 2005, the LVMH  (LVMHF) -owned chain opened just six stores across the country.

But times change and, last October, Sephora committed to coming back to the United Kingdom after years of rumors that it would eventually happen following Sephora's 2021 acquisition of British luxury beauty chain Feelunique.

The chain relaunched its United Kingdom website and mobile app last fall and, now, announced that its flagship store will be at the Westfield Shopping Centre in the Shepherds Bush district of London.

A Second Attempt At The British Market

Opening sometime in the spring of 2023, the flagship store will take up over 6,000 square feet of space and feature all the same elements and in-store experience concepts that Sephora has been investing in at its locations across the world over the last few years.

"We are delighted to bring our inspirational in-store environment to London, which has some of the most demanding beauty fans in the world," Sylvie Moreau, president of Europe and the Middle East at Sephora, has been telling news outlets since October. "We know that London’s youthful and inventive vibe is one of the best places in the world for us to introduce some of the innovations that will make the Sephora experience even more extraordinary in the future."

The new store will feature both Sephora's generic line and the individual brands that its customers expect to find there -- everything from Fenty Beauty and Drunk Elephant to Marc Jacobs and Maison Margiela.

Sephora Is Going Through Major Changes But Demand Remains Strong

The chain has been crafting a new course after LVMH appointed Guillaume Motte as Sephora's president and CEO last November. Over the last year, the wider Sephora brand has been experimenting with different concepts in a changing retail landscape.

In September, it launched a $49-a-year subscription service that offers free and faster shipping to frequent buyers. In August, it expanded its partnership with Kohl's  (KSS) - Get Free Report to bring more Sephora stores-within-a-store to the big-box retailer and, in November, also partnered with delivery platform DoorDash  (DASH) - Get Free Report for doorstep deliveries in the U.S. and Canada.

Sephora has largely been staying quiet about a specific opening date as well as how many and how fast new locations will follow the first one. But the choice of Westfield Shopping Centre highlights Sephora's recent efforts to reach the largest number of people possible by partnering with even larger chains -- the 240,000-square-foot, 450-store complex is among the top ten biggest malls in Europe.

"After the very successful launch of sephora.co.uk and our app last autumn, we have been inundated with questions about our plans to open stores," Sephora U.K. Managing Director Sarah Boyd said in a statement. "As the creator of multi-category, multi-experience prestige beauty retailing, we are thrilled to bring London a store that aspires to meet the needs of every beauty occasion."