For Sephora, the store is king: The personal-care retail chain is opening stores worldwide at a rate of 150 per year, as well as undertaking a major refurbishment of its top 100 global locations.
Sephora operates about 2,600 stores across 35 countries, reports the Financial Times. The chain recently reopened its store in the La Défense business district of Paris after a renovation. This follows similar store makeovers in New York City and in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is also part of a plan to spruce up scores of additional units around the world.
Sephora's store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue
“A lot of people are scared of the retail apocalypse, so they’re not investing in stores, and that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said CEO Chris de Lapuente, as reported in the paper. “We’re investing in our stores, taking our top 100 stores in the world and renovating them to the best possible standard.”
Sephora reports a fourfold sales increase over the past eight years, the newspaper says. Sephora is parent company LVMH’s second-largest brand by sales.
By Edmund Mander
Director, Editor-In-Chief/SCT
