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Sephora launched its online store in the U.S. in 1999 and in Canada in 2003.

The Canadian head office was opened in February 2007 by Marie-Christine Marchives, a former Sephora U.S. and Sephora France employee. Marie-Christine Marchives returned to France in July 2010 to become the general manager of Sephora France. She was replaced in Canada by Klaus Ryum-Larsen. Sephora currently operates over 2,300 stores in 33 countries worldwide, generating an estimated $4 billion in revenue as of 2013. As of September 2013, the Sephora at Champs Élysées in Paris, France, attracts over six million people a year. Afterpay and Sephora partnered to offer its customers the flexibility to pay in four installments on July 13, 2022.

 

Brands

Sephora features a variety of beauty products from more than 300 brands, including NARS Cosmetics, Make Up For Ever, Too Faced Cosmetics, One Size, Fenty, Milk, Bite Beauty, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Coto Beauty, Urban Decay, Benefit Cosmetics, First Aid Beauty, Lancôme Cosmetics, Sunday Riley Skincare, philosophy, Jo Malone London, Atelier Cologne, YSL Beauty by Yves Saint Laurent, Tatcha, Huda Beauty, Kat Von D, and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics.

Sephora also features its own make-up, skincare, beauty tools, and accessories under the brand name Sephora Collection. Packaging for the line previously featured the company’s elongated flame logo in standard black print. The new logo features the updated “Sephora Quality, Really Good Price” logo with the $ sign.In 2010, the company debuted fragrance collections with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, known as Elizabeth and James, and a makeup line with Marc Jacobs.

 

Sephora inside JCPenney

In October 2006, Sephora began opening stores inside JCPenney. Sephora inside JCPenney features some of the same makeup, skincare, and fragrance brands as well as its own product line found in stand-alone stores nationwide. Sephora inside JCPenney stores are much smaller than a normal store, usually 1,500 sq ft in size. As of 2017, there were more than 600 Sephora locations in JCPenney stores across the US. That same year, JC Penney announced the closing of 138 stores nationwide, several of which house a Sephora in JCPenney store.

 

Sephora inside Kohl’s

In December 2020, Sephora announced that it would begin opening Sephora stores inside Kohl’s locations. The announcement included plans to launch Sephora at 850 Kohl’s stores by 2023. The first four Sephora inside Kohl’s locations opened on August 6, 2021.

 

Subscription service

In August 2015, it was announced that Sephora would launch a subscription service: Play! By Sephora. The monthly subscription service offers boxes containing sample-size products for a monthly fee. Boston, Columbus, and Cincinnati were the only three cities to test the initial service launch in September 2015. The service was launched throughout the US in 2016. For $10 USD billed monthly, each month’s box is a collectible bag that changes each month with five deluxe skincare, makeup, or haircare samples.

 

Photo by Peter Kalonji on Unsplash