Kohl’s Introduces Downsized Sephora Shops for Its Smaller Stores
Kohl’s is progressing with its plans to open Sephora at Kohl’s shop-in-shops at all the department store chain’s 1,100-some locations across the U.S. as a way to make prestige beauty more accessible to more Americans.
As part of the “full-fleet expansion,” which Kohl’s plans to complete by 2025, the retailer has introduced a scaled-down Sephora at Kohl’s concept designed for its smaller store locations, according to a June 27 media release. The first five downsized test locations opened in January, and following their success, Kohl’s will open 45 more by the end of 2023. Specific locations will be announced later this year, per the release.
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Spanning 750 square feet, the initial five shops are located in West Jordan, Utah; North Phoenix, Arizona; Lake Wales, Florida; Sussex, Wisconsin; and Delavan, Wisconsin. The shops are located at the front of the store and offer an experience that maintains the look and feel of the full-sized formats with a few exceptions.
In terms of merchandising, the Sephora at Kohl’s shops at smaller stores display product together by category rather than brand, which Kohl’s says creates a simplified shopping experience and easy navigation for customers that may be unfamiliar with Sephora or the brands.
“These five shops gave us the opportunity to understand how the small-format experience and assortment resonated with shoppers,” Kohl’s said in the release, which noted the stores have already rendered strong customer satisfaction. “Overall, the small-format stores have driven solid beauty sales and exceeded expectations giving us confidence in the wider rollout later this year.”
Brands available span makeup, skin, hair and fragrance, and include Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty, Shiseido’s Nars, Charlotte Tilbury, Giorgio Armani, Amika, L’Oreal’s Lancome, L'Occitane’s Sol de Janeiro and Sephora’s namesake private label, to name a few.
Kohl’s first announced its partnership with Sephora in 2020 as a way to enhance its in-store experience and get a slice of the growing prestige beauty category. According to Kohl’s, the partnership is already paying off and bringing in new customers, who are shopping at more than twice the frequency of its average customer, per the release. Additionally, total beauty sales at Kohl’s were up 150% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023.
By the end of 2023, Sephora at Kohl’s will reach more than 900 stores.