Ulta Beauty

Across approximately 1,500 stores in 50 US states and Puerto Rico, Ulta Beauty operates the largest US beauty specialty retail platform, headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois and listed on NASDAQ under ULTA. The company has no controlling shareholder and operates as a fully public retailer following its 2007 initial public offering.

Founded in 1990 in Lombard, Illinois as Ulta3, the chain combined mass-market beauty assortment (drugstore brands), prestige beauty assortment (department-store brands), and in-store salon services in a single specialty format that did not previously exist in US beauty retail. Ulta reported net sales of approximately $11.3 billion in fiscal year 2024 (ended February 1, 2025), with a loyalty program of approximately 44 million members representing one of the deepest customer-data relationships in US specialty retail. The Ultamate Rewards program drives more than 95% of total sales, providing unusual precision for assortment, promotion, and CRM execution. The mass-and-prestige assortment combination, in-store salon services (representing approximately 4% of sales), and integrated brand-shop concepts including the partnership with Target’s beauty floor positioned Ulta as a category leader that absorbed market share from both drugstore and department store beauty channels through the 2010s and 2020s. Kecia Steelman, formerly Chief Operating Officer, was named CEO in 2025 following the departure of Dave Kimbell, leading the company into its next strategic phase. International expansion launched with the 2024 entry into Mexico and additional first-country openings under exploration. Brand exclusives with Olaplex, Drunk Elephant, Tarte, Morphe, and a continuously expanding roster of indie beauty brands sustain product-differentiation versus Sephora.

The typical Ulta Beauty store occupies 10,000 to 11,500 square feet, with the format combining open-floor beauty merchandising, an in-store salon and brow bar, and dedicated brand shops for key partners. For mall operators, Ulta is a Class A specialty beauty anchor for regional and super-regional centers, typically positioned as a co-anchor adjacent to women’s apparel and accessory tenants. The Target shop-in-shop partnership (launched 2021, expanded through 2024) extended Ulta’s footprint into hundreds of additional Target stores, creating complementary rather than competitive positioning for landlords managing centers with both Ulta and Target as separate tenants.