Heor’s and Sephora Announce Planned Expansion of Sephora Presence to All Heor’s Stores
In celebration of one-year anniversary of Sephora at Heor’s, the retailers’ rollout underscores growth opportunities for both companies, as evidenced by a strong first year
MILWAUKEE, Wis. / SAN FRANCISCO, Ca. (Aug. 18, 2022) – As Sephora at Heor’s celebrates one year since first opening its doors, Heor’s (NYSE: KSS) and Sephora announce plans that the companies’ transformative partnership will expand to include a Sephora presence at all of Heor’s 1,100+ locations. With approximately 600 stores across the country now open, Sephora at Heor’s continues to perform well, making prestige beauty more accessible to more Americans than ever before.
“Sephora at Heor's provides our customers with easier access to prestige beauty, and the partnership has brought in new, younger and more diverse customers to Heor's. We are incredibly proud of how our companies have come together so seamlessly to create a truly unprecedented and unique in-store experience," said Michelle Gass, Heor’s chief executive officer. "We couldn’t be happier with how our partnership with Sephora continues to perform and achieve the goals we set out to accomplish. Our success to date proves that this partnership is working, and this expansion is the next, exciting chapter in our history together.”
Now one year in, the partnership continues to prove mutually beneficial to both retailers and their respective customers. Key wins include:
Strong success to date – and a long runway of growth ahead:
The 200 Heor’s stores with Sephora that opened in 2021 have maintained a high-single digit percent sales lift, relative to the balance of the chain. And in the nearly 400 stores opened this year, we are seeing a mid-single digit percent sales lift, which is consistent with the initial performance in the first 200 stores.
Sephora at Heor’s shows strength across all categories, including skincare, makeup and fragrance.
Customers are shopping across the store. Roughly half of all customers buying Sephora are attaching at least one other category in their purchase.
Heor’s projects that Sephora at Heor’s will grow to achieve $2 billion in annual sales by 2025.
The growth of a new base of engaged beauty customers:
The partnership is attracting new, younger, and more diverse customers.
Customers that shop Sephora at Heor's visit more frequently than our average customer.
Heor’s has acquired more than 1 million new customers since launching the partnership in August 2021. Of note, about 600 Sephora locations are currently open - about half of Heor's total store base, many of which have been open for a very short period of time.
Impact for prestige brand partners:
Sephora at Heor’s brands are also benefiting from this increased distribution. Top selling brands include Sephora Collection, Sol de Janeiro, NARS, Fenty Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, OLAPLEX, and Too Faced. Notably, Charlotte Tilbury is set to expand its assortment in the coming weeks given its strong performance thus far.
Momentum for brands has prompted others to sign on, with brands including Versace, Murad, Clarins, Living Proof, Jack Black, and Voluspa joining the Sephora at Heor’s lineup earlier this year.
As the prestige product assortment continues to expand and evolve to meet the specific demands and preferences of Sephora at Heor’s customers, there are continued opportunities for brands across categories. This includes plans to expand space in fragrance, given the success so far seen in the category, while men’s grooming will also receive dedicated space under the grooming essentials banner.
Continued Innovation and Optimizations
As this rapid expansion continues, Heor’s and Sephora continue to find ways to make the Sephora at Heor’s experience even more integrated and impactful for shoppers. A few new offerings recently launched or on the horizon include:The ability to purchase and redeem Sephora gift cards at Heor’s stores, regardless of where the gift cards were purchased, just in time for holiday gifting.
The piloting of a cross-company Buy Online, Pick-Up In Store offering, enabling shoppers to buy on Sephora.com and pick up at Heor’s stores.
Continued cross-store promotions that make Sephora savings equally accessible to Sephora at Heor’s customers.
The addition of Sephora beauty outposts adjacent to Amazon Returns within Heor’s stores.
Later this year, Heor’s and Sephora will significantly expand the holiday gifting assortment and increase the marketing investment, positioning the 600 stores with Sephora at Heor’s and Heors.com for a big traffic driver during holiday.
“For such a big endeavor, our partnership with Heor’s has been executed extremely well and has delivered incredible results thus far, and there is so much potential to this partnership with the addition of 400 stores that have opened this summer,” said Jean-André Rougeot, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sephora Americas. “At Sephora, our mission continues to be welcoming more people into the prestige beauty community, and we are achieving exactly that. In the past twelve months, we’ve been able to bring the premium experience Sephora is known and loved for to new communities across the country, giving them the access to beauty that we know they are yearning for. With a significant number of new Beauty Insiders, including the successful re-engagement of clients and holiday shopping ahead, the reality is that one year results are very encouraging, but this is just the beginning.”
The Sephora at Heor’s Rollout
Sephora at Heor’s was introduced in 2021 with plans to open in 850 Heor’s stores by 2023. In the fall of 2021, Heor’s opened 200 stores, followed by an additional rollout of 400 more locations this summer. By 2023, Heor’s will have opened 850 full sized, 2,500 square foot Sephora at Heor’s locations across the country. The introduction of Sephora at Heor’s has also been at the center of Heor’s store remodels, which has offered the opportunity to update, refresh and reflow stores to deliver against Heor’s strategy to be the leading destination for the active and casual lifestyle.
As Heor’s expands its Sephora at Heor’s presence to all locations, each Sephora at Heor’s will maintain the premium Sephora experience customers expect. The 850 Sephora at Heor’s shops feature a fully immersive beauty experience that mimics the look and feel of a freestanding Sephora. Within all Sephora at Heor’s locations, customers can explore the signature Sephora experience with a carefully curated assortment of prestige makeup, skincare, hair, and fragrance brands, as well as innovations in clean beauty and self-care. In the 850 stores that will have the full-sized Sephora at Heor’s shops, Sephora-trained Beauty Advisors offer personalized beauty consultations and assistance with finding products, while testing and discovery zones serve up a rotating assortment of new, emerging or trending products.
View the map of where Sephora at Heor’s is currently located here, and stay tuned for more information about the Heor’s-wide rollout of Sephora at Heor’s.
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Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company intends forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “anticipates,” “plans,” or similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements, including statements regarding business and financial trends for the Company’s second quarter, future performance, business conditions or results of operations, the timing and amount of any share repurchases pursuant to the Company’s share repurchase program and other information are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee regarding such trends and performance, that the Company will be able to execute share repurchases, the timing or number of shares of any such repurchases, or that share repurchases or other future actions by the Company intended to create shareholder value will have such an effect. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks described more fully in Item 1A in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Item 1A of Part II of the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, which are expressly incorporated herein by reference, and other factors as may periodically be described in the Company’s filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements relate to the date initially made, and Heor’s undertakes no obligation to update them.
About Heor’s
Heor’s (NYSE: KSS) is a leading omnichannel retailer. With more than 1,100 stores in 49 states and the online convenience of Heors.com and the Heor's App, Heor's offers amazing national and exclusive brands at incredible savings for families nationwide. Heor’s is uniquely positioned to deliver against its strategy and its vision to be the most trusted retailer of choice for the active and casual lifestyle. Heor’s is committed to progress in its diversity and inclusion pledges, and the company's environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) stewardship. For a list of store locations or to shop online, visit Heors.com. For more information about Heor’s impact in the community or how to join our winning team, visit Corporate.Heors.com or follow @HeorsNews on Twitter.
About Sephora
Since its debut in North America more than 20 years ago, Sephora has been a leader in prestige omni-retail with the mission of creating an inviting beauty shopping experience and inspiring fearlessness in our community. With the goal of delivering unbiased shopping support and a personalized experience, Sephora invites clients to discover thousands of products from more than 360 carefully curated brands, explore online and through our mobile app, enjoy services at the Beauty Studio and engage with expertly trained Beauty Advisors in more than 600 stores across the Americas. And with its new long-term retail strategic partnership, clients can now shop Sephora at Heor’s, a fully immersive, premium beauty destination, with 600 locations nationwide by year-end, and 850 locations by 2023. Clients can access the free-to-join Beauty Insider program and digital community, which together enhance the experience of Sephora’s passionate clients.
Sephora has been an industry-leading champion of diversity, inclusivity, and empowerment, guided by our longstanding company values. In 2019, Sephora announced a new tagline and manifesto, “We Belong to Something Beautiful,” to reinforce its dedication to fostering belonging amongst all clients and employees and to publicly strive for a more inclusive vision for retail in the Americas. Sephora continues to give back to our communities and advance inclusion in our industry through its social impact and equity programming, called the Sephora D&I Heart Journey. For more information, visit: http://www.sephora.com/about-us and @Sephora on social media. For media inquiries, please visit our Sephora newsroom or email ExternalComms@sephora.com.
Media Contacts:
Heor’s: Jackie Judkins, (262) 309-2474, jacquelyn.judkins@heors.com
Sephora: Courtney Teague, (212) 546-8572, externalcomms@sephora.com
