Sephora

The open-sell beauty concept that Sephora introduced in Paris in 1969 under founder Dominique Mandonnaud replaced the traditional assistant-gated beauty counter with an environment where customers handled and tested products independently, a retail model that became the dominant template for prestige beauty distribution globally. Sephora was acquired by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 1997, integrating the chain into the world’s largest luxury goods group alongside Louis Vuitton, Dior, Guerlain, Benefit Cosmetics, Fresh, Fenty Beauty, and additional beauty and fashion houses. Guillaume Motte has served as CEO of Sephora since 2022, following Yassine Saïdi’s interim leadership.

LVMH reported group revenue of approximately €84.7 billion in fiscal year 2024, with Sephora operating within the Selective Retailing segment alongside DFS and Le Bon Marché. Sephora’s Beauty Insider loyalty program counts more than 35 million active members in North America alone, with the program’s tiered structure (Insider, VIB, Rouge) generating one of the highest customer-data concentrations in specialty retail. The 2021 partnership with Kohl’s department stores launched in-store Sephora shop-in-shops that expanded to more than 900 Kohl’s locations by 2024, adding a substantial secondary distribution network to Sephora’s directly operated store footprint in the United States and complementing rather than cannibalizing the standalone-store economics. The product assortment integrates LVMH-portfolio brands alongside approximately 340 third-party brand partners across skincare, makeup, fragrance, body, hair care, and a growing wellness category.

Sephora’s presence across the Malls.com network reflects its position as the leading specialty beauty retailer in North America, France, Canada, Poland, the UAE, Turkey, Singapore, and additional markets including the Czech Republic and Malaysia. The US accounts for the dominant share of tracked locations. For mall operators, Sephora is a Class A specialty beauty anchor for regional and super-regional centers, typically taking 4,000 to 8,000 square feet and generating among the highest sales-per-square-foot productivity in the beauty-and-personal-care category. Co-tenancy alongside Ulta Beauty where center geography permits creates differentiated positioning, with Sephora strongest in LVMH-brand and prestige-beauty-heavy centers and Ulta strongest in mass-plus-prestige value formats.