Yahoo Lifestyle Sephora Plans To Open 20 Stores Across Australia
Sephora officially opened its first Australian store to the public today, with mass crowds engulfing Pitt St Mall.
Hundreds of excited fans who slept in the walkway outside the store overnight clamoured inside for a first look inside the highly-anticipated beauty mecca, which opened on the dot of midday.
This afternoon, lines are still snaked around the block - and we suspect they won't be letting up anytime soon if past international brand launches are anything to go by.
If you missed out on today's opening, never fear: Sephora plans to open 20 more stores across Australia, with two flagships in Sydney and Melbourne. It's also negotiating an Australian based online store to keep up with heavy market demand.
Overnight, the beauty giant also addressed rumours it would be selling cosmetics at US prices.
"Many brands have done a disservice and many retail players have also done a disservice to the retail consumer," said Ravi Thakran, Asia and Middle East president for global luxury goods group LVMH, which owns Sephora. "I believe the Australian consumer does deserve to be treated exactly the same [as US consumers] on that. It could be a short-term sacrifice for a long-term game and we certainly want to go for that."
However, Thakran says Sephora has no plans to undercut department store prices - if a brand already exists in the market (such as M.A.C, Lancome and Estee Lauder), prices will remain the same.
"We don't want to compete with department stores and other players based on lower pricing," Thakran said. "But any brand we bring in we'll bring that in with pricing equality [with the US]."
On the flipside, brands such as Marc Jacobs Beauty, Tarte, Skin Inc and Formula X, which aren't available in Australia anywhere else but Sephora, will match US prices.
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