Sephora’s Global President and CEO Guillaume Motte is aiming to have 20 stores in the UK by 2027.
The LVMH-owned beauty retailer wants to more than double its UK bricks-and-mortar footprint over the next three years in a bid to challenge established players like Boots.
Sephora currently has six stores across the UK, based in shopping destinations like Manchester’s Trafford Centre, Newcastle’s Eldon Square and MetroCentre and Birmingham’s Bullring (pictured above).
As well as London Westfield’s White City and Stratford City shopping centres.
Sephora’s seventh store will open at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent on 27 November, while its eighth shop will launch in Liverpool in spring 2025.
“We are probably looking in the next two-to-three years to have at least 20 stores in the UK,” Motte told The Times.
“I know that sometimes we say that retail, and especially retail in the UK, has been doom and gloom.
“My answer to this is always, ‘boring retail is dead, but exciting retail is alive and really thriving’.”
Motte added that Sephora would “never be number-one in the UK in terms of size”, reported the publication, but that it hopes to become the “most loved” beauty brand.
Sephora debuted a tier-based loyalty programme for UK customers this year in a bid to further strengthen its market position.
The beauty retailer returned to the UK market in 2023 after an 18-year hiatus.
On its return, Sylvie Moreau, President of Sephora Europe and the Middle East, told Cosmetics Business that British retail is "not for the faint hearted".
She added: "The UK has some of the most engaged, experienced consumers in the world. It is a big battleground, so we come with humility."
Sephora has more than 3,000 stores in 35 countries.