Sephora to Open 850 Beauty Shops Inside Kohl’s Stores
Kohl’s and Sephora have partnered to roll out at least 850 "Sephora at Kohl's" shops inside Kohl’s retail stores by 2023.
The partnership aims to marry Kohl's expansive customer reach and omnichannel convenience with Sephora's service, product selection and beauty experience. The news comes on the heels of Target’s announcement last month that it had entered a partnership with Ulta Beauty to launch "shop-in-shop" concepts nationwide beginning 2021.
The first 200 "Sephora at Kohl's" are expected to open in Fall 2021, at which time the Kohls.com online beauty selection will also convert to exclusively showcase an expanded assortment of Sephora's prestige product offerings.
The Sephora shops will bring a playful trial and immersive prestige beauty experience along with more than 100 carefully curated beauty brands to Kohl’s 65 million customers across the U.S. Sephora will prominently feature testing and discovery zones that serve up a rotating assortment of new, emerging or trending products.
“At Sephora, delivering a strong client experience through passionate employees is at the heart of who we are, and we are thrilled to find a partner who shares this identity,” said Jean-André Rougeot, President & CEO of Sephora Americas. “This is not a pop-up collaboration, but an investment our brand partners can rely on for the long-term; as a company with a history of sustained decades-long partnerships, Sephora has every confidence in the future of this collaboration and the unique experiences it will bring to consumers across the U.S. Our partnership will be built on expanding our complementary reach and scale in-store and online, creating customer-centric, prestige experiences, collaborating on new innovations, and living our shared values. We fully believe Kohl’s is the ideal partner to bring this vision to life.”
The Sephora at Kohl's beauty shops will be designed within a 2,500-square-foot space prominently located at the front of stores. They will replace Kohl's current in-store beauty assortment and their positioning at the front of the store will provide maximum exposure for Sephora’s brand partners. Exterior signage at locations that feature the in-store shops will display both Kohl's and Sephora branding. The shops will be staffed by Sephora-trained “beauty advisors.”
“The Kohl's and Sephora partnership will bring a transformational, elevated beauty experience to Kohl's from the top global name in beauty,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s CEO. “This new collaboration is an excellent example of two customer-centric, purpose-driven companies leveraging each other’s strengths to make aspirational beauty far more accessible to millions of customers all across the country. It’s an extraordinary time of change, and I am thrilled to partner with Sephora, a brand that shares our values and our passion for innovation and reinvention. Today’s announcement is a perfect illustration of the bold moves we are making at Kohl’s to accelerate our growth and reimagine our future for the next era of retail.”
Sephora has 500 of its 2,600 stores in the Americas and Kohl's has more than 1,150 locations in 49 states, serving 65 million customers, with very limited overlap between the two store networks. This combined offering of at least 850 Sephora at Kohl's locations by 2023 is expected to draw new and younger customers to Kohl’s and will bring the Sephora experience to millions of new shoppers and existing members of the Sephora beauty community, who may not live close to a Sephora location. The locations will be selected based on existing Sephora store proximity, market opportunity and customer insights.
“I am delighted by this new partnership which is perfectly aligned with our worldwide vision,” said Martin Brok, global president & CEO of Sephora. “Great brands are always looking for new ways to serve their customers and innovate, even in dynamic times. With Kohl’s we will be able to bring Sephora closer to where our customers want us to be, offering them one transformative beauty experience that integrates our prestige product offering, our values and our communities, in a place where they come to get inspired and fulfill their lifestyle needs. This partnership also shows our confidence in the future of omnichannel retail and ideally positions both Kohl’s and Sephora to seize tomorrow’s opportunities, today.”
Sephora purchases at Kohl's and Kohls.com will be eligible for Beauty Insider rewards benefits, as part of Sephora's loyalty program. Kohl's will also offer the added convenience of easy in-store returns, store pick-up, and curbside pick-up. Sephora.com and Kohls.com will also integrate their e-commerce experiences, allowing Sephora.com shoppers to find the nearest Sephora or Kohl's locations that have their beauty products available.