by LONDON – Selfridges unveiled its brand new beauty hall on Friday at its Oxford Street flagship following a 12-month, multi-million pound refurbishment.
The refurbished and optimized space, which has seen stock rooms restored to host more than 300 beauty brands – 50 of which are exclusive to the UK retailer owned by the Central Group – will provide more than 200 beauty services with more than 1,000 beauty experts working on the website. land.
More from WWD
“We have a great beauty business and we want to make sure we’re allowing ourselves to constantly evolve,” said Melissa McGinnis, head of buying – beauty at Selfridges.
“We have great accessories and luxurious spaces on both sides underground. It’s about how we can use the space we have in an exciting way and bring more brands to life. We increased the number of branded counters by 8. We have a very broad and diverse customer base. We strive to create diverse destinations within a space that will allow our customers to shop in a way that meets their preferences,” said McGinnis.
One of the biggest changes with the latest renovation is that Selfridges has removed interior walls to open up the space that connects the fragrance hall, which is right next to the store’s main doors, the central beauty hall, and the workshop beauty, a space that used to sell chocolates and as a result the dining hall.
“We are now seeing that these spaces are really one entity. Compared to when we launched the beauty workshop in 2012, where the beauty industry is today, and where Selfridges beauty businesses are today, we have developed so much. Customers who show up in those spaces migrate and explore the world. So we wanted to create a space that facilitated that better,” said McGinnis.
The new beauty hall enables Selfridges to host a diverse mix of brands in terms of where they are in their journey, or price points. McGinnis said established brands would need large spaces with wall ads, and she wants to help buzzy direct-to-consumer brands make their first foray into a physical retail environment.
“At the heart of everything we do at Selfridges, we want to be at the forefront of the new age. We understand that there are different spaces within our beauty playground that will allow us to introduce a brand no matter where they are in their journey, and to help them flourish and grow within our stores and gain exposure to our customers,” said McGinnis .
For an optimized shopping experience, Selfridges has also improved the sight lines of the space, which opens up and allows customers to see the entire room regardless of where they are in the beauty hall. A similar improvement was implemented in 2018 with the refurbishment of the retailer’s Manchester Trafford store.
“You will notice that all the counters are 1.5 meters high. We have consistent design and branding principles across the space. That room is high energy and is the central room of the whole store. It has the highest density and the busiest number. For us, it was about how we can enhance the space in certain ways by dialing up the architecture but still have that energy from all our brand partners and their great brand designs reflect in a very exciting way,” a McGinnis said.
The main hall has also been fitted with a new LED lighting system.
“Those changes wouldn’t have been possible without the lighting we put in. If you’re beauty shopping, especially if you’re shopping, you know, color categories, it’s so important to have the best lighting for tone representation. So that our amazing in-store staff can help customers match products,” said McGinnis.
The focus on sustainability is also at the heart of the whole project, according to McGinnis.
In keeping with Selfridges’ ethos of sustainability, around 74 brands such as Chanel, Prada, Dior, Dries Van Noten, Hermès, and Le Labo will offer more than 2,500 refill options. All brands operating within the beauty hall aim to incorporate refills into their counters by 2025.
“Some brands are already well into the journey, like Le Labo. Then we had other brands where it helped these types of conversations to help push internally. We’re probably about 85 to 90 percent of the way there with our brand partners,” McGinnis said.
Around 37 brands – including Charlotte Tilbury, Pat McGrath Labs, Hourglass, Dior, Tom Ford, MFK, Prada, Loewe, Jo Malone, Aesop, Victoria Beckham, Rabanne, Valentino, Dries Van Noten, and Burberry – created counters new more sustainable in the hall under the Selfridges Sustainable Building Guidelines.
According to McGinnis, Selfridges works hand-in-hand with brands to ensure that all new builds, retrofits and maintenance projects, as well as brand partner stores and pop-up projects, are made from responsibly sourced materials that are better for the planet. and promotes healthy indoor air quality.
Experiences to promote freshness are also an attraction for the new beauty hall.
Historically, there have been two pop-up spaces in the space on either side of the information desk in front of the main entrance. With last year’s north-north space renovation, the retailer introduced three experiential play tables—one for hair, one for color, and one for skin.
Three new atrium spaces dedicated to beauty which will move between floors at Selfridges alongside the new beauty hall will be unveiled on Friday.
“It’s not a Selfridges space if you’re not bringing great activations to life,” McGinnis said, adding that the introduction of Beauty Spot, a permanent 330 square foot space for creative and experimental beauty retail concepts, will attract more customers. the new beauty hall.
It will be launched with an exclusive four-month residency from TikTok-famous, UK-based cosmetics brand Refy, founded by Jess Hunt and Jenna Meek.
“It’s a space that aims to showcase the great activities we do in the Corner Shop, which is open to all categories. We were lucky enough to have that space for some beauty launches, like Pat McGrath, Pleasing, Chanel, and Charlotte Tilbury,” said McGinnis.
“We get great pitches for years but there are very few opportunities for us to offer brands. When designing the new space, we knew we wanted to create a new destination that would allow us to bring these amazing brand collaborations to life in a space that can offer our brands a longer residency with more flexible guidelines . so they create a great immersive destination,” she said.
Refy is a good fit for the launch as the brand has been a top performer since launching in Selfridges in 2021, according to McGinnis.
“For us, an iconic British department store, it made perfect sense for us to choose a really exciting, immersive, innovative, British-based brand, who we’ve had this great partnership with and it’s time for them to be an even bigger brand at them. Launchpad us in beauty. We are also launching a new store with them in our Manchester Trafford store,” said McGinnis.
Hunt and Meek of Refy said they designed the space as a kitchen, which is “at the heart of the home and a space for creativity.” During the residency, they will roll out three different concepts.
“All three experiences are aimed at delighting the senses, offering opportunities to touch, feel and interact with the freshness and see the new life of Refy through our window next to each launch. We are partnering with brands within Selfridges to provide a taste of summer as well as opportunities to come and learn and play with us at the dining room table, truly immersing the customer in our new and existing product range that allows them to learn and create ,” the duo said.
Born during the pandemic, Refy’s partnership with Selfridges gave the brand’s UK customers the first opportunity to feel and try the product in real life. Last year, the brand logged more than 100 percent growth in total sales, year on year.
More about the experience, customers can choose from a head-to-toe menu of beauty services that include color, skin and fragrance consultations, over-the-counter treatments, personalization, and gift ideas.
For example, Estée Lauder, Lancôme and Prada will offer skin diagnostics and decoding services. MAC offers product personalization with stickers. La Mer has its treatment pods, and Armani will run a glow bar. Meanwhile, Charlotte Tilbury will provide virtual “try-ons” and mini master classes on site.
Next to the beauty spot, is the beauty concierge, where customers can book beauty appointments, master classes, and expert advice across all brands. It offers beauty services including a beauty bag makeover and a Selfridges beauty tour. The concierge is supported by a team of eight experts who can speak more than 20 languages between them.
“The team members there are amazing. They are individuals who have worked across different brands during their careers at Selfridges, and are now part of our beauty concierge team, which is an existing offering, but one that we are continuing to grow,” McGinnis said.
McGinnis said the retailer’s current owner, Central Group of Thailand, is fully supportive of the beauty salon upgrade.
“We have renovated many spaces on the ground floor. Beauty and food are the last two and beauty was always planned first. We stopped the project when COVID-19 happened and when we had the new ownership takeover, we were the first department to present our vision and strategy. It was signed off at a faster pace than any project I’ve ever worked on in the business and I’ve been at Selfridges for the last 17 years. It was positive to see that they were on board and fully supportive of the direction we wanted to take our business,” added McGinnis.
The launch is accompanied by a dedicated campaign called Big City Beauty shot by Sam Youkilis. A program of beauty events will be held every weekend during June across the company’s stores in London, Birmingham and Manchester.
The best of WWD
