Sephora Confirms U.K. Store Comeback At Westfield London

It will have taken a mere 18 years, but French beauty and skincare retailer Sephora will finally welcome customers in the U.K. again this spring.

After launching its U.K. website last October, Sephora has confirmed that it will open the doors to a London flagship store in the Westfield London mall, White City in west London.

The retailer will occupy a circa 6,000 sq. ft. store housing a range of products from make-up to fragrance, skincare, haircare, and wellness and over 140 brands including Drunk Elephant, Summer Fridays to Fenty as well as a line-up of names exclusive to Sephora U.K. such as Makeup by Mario.

The store will also feature a ‘Grand Beauty Hub’ which the business said would “provide memorable experiences for customers as they explore make-up, skincare, haircare, fragrance, body and personalized gifting.”

If initial plans are on track, the new store is slated to open March of this year.

Sephora notoriously exited the U.K. in May 2005 after opening just six stores, the first of which was in the huge out-of-town Bluewater shopping center just outside London in 2000. The LVMH-owned retailer blamed soaring rents and costs for its inability to compete with the established players last time, as it shuttered its British business.

Rumors in 2019 that Sephora would be opening a store in the Westfield London shopping center failed to materialise, however Sephora acquired e-beauty retailer FeelUnique in 2021 for $147 million, paving the way for a return to the U.K.

In October 2022, Sephora switched domains from FeelUnique to Sephora.co.uk

Sephora U.K. Store Return

“Sephora has transformed the beauty experience of customers all over the world and we are delighted to bring our inspirational in-store environment to London, which has some of the most demanding beauty fans in the world,” Sephora President Europe, Middle East, Sylvie Moreau, said.

“We know that London’s youthful and inventive vibe is one of the best places on in the world for us to introduce some of the innovations that will make the Sephora experience even more extraordinary in the future.”

The U.K. is also among the three leading cosmetic consumer markets in Europe, behind only France and Germany,

The sector is currently dominated by two high street competitors, Walgreens-owned behemoth Boots and rival Superdrug, which have thrived after many department stores disappeared or closed, taking their traditional beauty halls with them.

Apparel bellwether Next – which bought Marie Claire’s beauty format Fabled from Ocado in 2019 – has also diversified into Beauty Halls, launching a number up and down the U.K. mainly in spaces vacated by the collapsed department store chain Debenhams.

Harrods has opened five beauty stores, including the recently opened H Beauty at the Metrocentre, Gateshead, while, Frasers Group’s Flannels’ plans to open up to ten Beauty Edit concept spaces in key regional locations by 2025.

Sephora London Spring Launch

Sephora U.K. managing director Sarah Boyd said: “We are very excited to open our first store in London, which is something we know our beauty community has been waiting for many years”

“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. 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. Our passionate hand-picked cast members will welcome all customers to a welcoming, vibrant, diverse and inclusive environment where all their imagination can roam free as they all discover their own personal extraordinary forms of beauty.”

Earlier this month Sephora owner LVMH rejigged its management team when the world’s richest man by Forbes ranking made the latest move to plan his succession.

Luxury goods billionaire Bernard Arnault appointed his daughter Delphine to run Christian Dior, one of the key brands in a the $410bn luxury conglomerate, as part of a management shake-up.

Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault also named a new boss for Louis Vuitton, with Pietro Beccari, who has been the head of Dior since 2018, moving next month to replace long-time Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke.