Why the hell don't we have Sephora?

[Ofthread]

Just that!

We used to have it, I'm not sure why it withdrew from the UK it was great

There are two in the town where I live - what's so great about them?

I’ve seen discussions about this before, and I’m sure someone with more knowledge than I have can explain it fully, but apparently their business model didn’t work in the U.K. so they closed the shops.

I love Sephora! Probably found it difficult with Boots on every high street.

Its a shame. The only one i went in was in Rhodes town. Space NK seems similar but more £££

I wish we had it too. I've been in the one in Barcelona a few times. So much choice I'm like a deer in headlights!

I assume because of Boots. All the US people in the skincare FB groups are jealous of our Boots

Used to have more, I loved the one near me, but it just didn’t do that well apparently

There used to be one in my town. It was expensive and crap, so when the novelty of having it wore off everyone stopped shopping there.

I used to love the one on Oxford street and I don't even do make-up.

They did try to enter U.K. market, but their found:

Rents and wages too high - so not enough profit
Market already saturated with Other chemists and department stores
Also U.K. buyers, on expensive products, didn’t like not having a sales person on each item

I still shop in Sephora regularly as I have a sibling living abroad who lives very close to a store and I actually don't think it's as good as it used to be. I used to love their peony scented shower gel and bubble bath but they've discontinued it. There's a lot less of their own brand stuff and everything else in there you can get in Boots or John Lewis.

Yeah, Boots is good and improving, but their website and online shopping experience is terrible.

That's interesting that UK buyers want the single desks for each brand. Personally, I hate going up to desks and the worry of ending up with the wrong product/shade because of the pressure.

What do they sell that Boots don't

There used to be one in Brent Cross Shopping Centre years ago and It was a bit shabby and shit from recollection. Saying that, I loved looking in Sephora on my last holiday in the States and bought a few things

There used to be one in Bluewater. It was pretty naff.

I wish Dublin had a Sephora

I used to love their peony scented shower gel and bubble bath but they've discontinued it.

I loved the Cotton Flower stuff-the smell was absolutely amazing!

Ooh I used to like the cotton flower too. I'm nearing the end of my shower gel stash

Do the staff still wear one glove?
I used to love it when I lived in France a while back as it was just so fancy.

@roses2 It's more of a beauty superstore, whereas Boots is a general drugstore + beauty. The list of brands all in one place is not available in the UK, I believe?

www.sephora.fr/marques-de-a-a-z/

There was one in the Angel shopping centre in Islington, I wasn't impressed.

I used to go to the one in touchwood but didn’t realise those big brands still test on animals for the Chinese markets so if they opened up I wouldn’t use them.

They also sell the Sephora brand

@Fluffycloudland77 That's a good point, I am trying to be more aware of this from now on. I honestly had no idea until fairly recently.