Sephora plans Sydney flagship

In December this year, Sephora will open a flagship store in Sydney, Australia in the Pitt Street shopping mall. The new space will comprise 800-1,000sqm on three levels and will be open in time for Christmas. It takes over the location currently occupied by clothing brand Esprit. Pitt Street will be the firm’s first store in Australia but is set to be followed by a Melbourne outlet in 2015, then another 18 or so over the next few years.

Sephora had been in talks with department store chains David Jones and Myer to set up shop-in-shops as it does with JC Penney in the US, but the companies failed to come to an agreement.This means Sephora will effectively act as a rival to David Jones and Myer, which account for 60% of cosmetics retail sales in Australia. However, Ravi Thakran, Group President, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East for Sephora’s parent company LVMH, told the Australian financial press that there was still scope for Sephora to partner with the department stores further down the track. Talks are believed to be ongoing.

Sephora’s exclusive deals mean that Australians will be able to buy a number of brands for the first time, including Formula X, Kat Von D, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Make Up For Ever and Tarte.