I love beauty and skincare. Before COVID you could often find me strolling the aisles of Sephora, Ulta or Target looking for new skincare brands or a bright-colored lip. So, it warmed my cold black heart to read that Ulta Beauty is partnering with Target. Target is literally one of my favorite places to search for new products. Especially products at drugstore prices. Now 50 Targets across the country will have small Ulta stores in them. Ulta x Target hopes to expand to over 800 stores over the next few years. Something tells me this will be a match made in heaven. Below are a few more details from People:
Both brands expect the mini shops to appear in a total of 800 locations in the upcoming years. As of now, they feature more than 50 beauty brands, including Anastasia Beverly Hills, Ariana Grande, bareMinerals, Clinique, Drybar, IT Cosmetics, MAC Cosmetics, Madison Reed, Morphe, PATTERN, Tarte, TULA Skincare, Ulta Beauty Collection, Urban Decay and more.
“As the retail and beauty industries continue to evolve, we take pride in being leaders that continually redefine and elevate guest experiences. Ulta Beauty at Target reflects our commitment to drive the industry forward and keep our guests meaningfully engaged,” said Kecia Steelman, Ulta Beauty chief operating officer, in a statement. “Our dynamic teams have worked together to create a disruptive, exciting way to discover prestige beauty with a thoughtfully curated assortment and knowledgeable, approachable experts to serve as beauty gurus.”
Each shop will be about 1,000 square feet within the select Target stores. Right now, customers can find the closest Ulta Beauty at Target location by checking the website, which lists Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and more as some of the first states to welcome the brand-new beauty destination.
“Ulta Beauty at Target is unmatched in the industry, bringing guests the opportunity to discover new prestige brands while they shop Target’s incredible beauty assortment. This unique partnership is another way we continue to elevate the guest experience across our multi-category business to drive traffic and preference as we meet guests’ needs in innovative ways,” said Christina Hennington, Target executive vice president and chief growth officer. “With two powerhouse retailers, our collective brand love, loyalty and omnichannel expertise will inspire guests and raise the bar for the beauty shopping experience.”
I follow several Youtubers who do makeup tutorials and review new beauty trends and products. It is almost an obsession. Granted I spent seven years working as a freelance makeup artist at Mac Cosmetics, Chanel Cosmetics and behind the scenes at photoshoots. Although it has been damn near a decade since I have really done any makeup, I still stay on top of new beauty trends and cosmetics brands. Now I will get to walk into a Target and get professional help when picking out a new foundation and this is absolutely clutch. This partnership has got to be one of the most brilliant moves I have ever seen a brand do. Target will give Ulta the visibility by having their counters in stores and Ulta will give Target beauty and skincare legitimacy and range. I also love that Ulta will bring a range of products that Target would not have otherwise carried. I hope to see an ecological approach to the partnership where Ulta will be able to give up some of their store spaces because they will be in Target. But I know that is wishful thinking on my part. The only hitch in this partnership is more mass produced products polluting our planet. I look forward to perusing Target’s Ulta counters in the future.
Photos via Instagram and credit Ulta for Target
My Ulta is 5 minutes from my house, the nearest Target is 25, so this doesn’t mean a whole lot to me. I do like Ulta, I think they do a good job offering a wide variety of brands and price points. But I really love Sephora (that’s 15 minutes from my house for those wondering.) I hate makeup counters lol so Sephora and Ulta are my jam.
usually these outdated marriages between brands are a struggling store’s idea to bring in people….I don’t know any people who still shop target anymore…the quality is soooo terrible and not much better than Walmart or Amazon.
You obviously don’t live in the Midwest suburbs.
@kimberly and Rose lol to both comments.
I don’t have a Target near me (they were going to put one about two miles from my house, years ago before I moved here, but the community rose up in protest at another big box store so target said “bye!” and said they would never put another store in our county. So we have the one that is 25 minutes away and that’s it. Now people complain we don’t have a Target….)
anyway, we do have a really big and relatively nice Walmart, and the funny thing is that since I shop there so much, when I go to Target I don’t really see a difference – the store is set up a little nicer, the employees are obviously treated better – but the actual products are roughly on par, quality-wise, Target is just more expensive. My mom shops at target all the time though bc she does have one very close to her house.
The Ulta near me is 25 minutes away and the target 10. Sadly we won’t be getting an Ulta at my target and it’s such a bummer.
Well I like ULTA and Target (unfortunately for my wallet) but I’m in Target way more often so I hope there is a store near me on the list. Not to be a Debbie Downer though, but COVID has put a major dent in my makeup use and tbh I haven’t really missed it.
So is this the beginning of the end for stand alone brick and mortar beauty shops? The last two places I lived, Sephora was in the JC Penney’s.
I’ve never seen a stand alone Sephora. I bet Ulta starts closing their stores in favor of moving them in to Targets. I imagine it’s cheaper to rent vs. renting a bigger retail space in a strip mall.
We only have stand alone Sephoras: One in the Century City Mall and one on Beverly Drive. I love the “bigness” of the stores, and all the choices (as well as getting easy help to find things or try new things.
Really? We have a stand-alone Sephora where I live and I love it. I really hope those stores aren’t all going by the wayside! I don’t wear a ton of makeup but my daughter is practically an expert and I just love going in there, it’s like a candy store. Also a stand-alone Ulta or three, but then I live in a big city.
Veronika, being by a TJ Maxx probably helps them a lot. That’s where the Ulta near me is, and since I’m a TJ Maxx fan that works out really well for me and I imagine for a lot of others. They also have a hair salon in the Ulta which boosts presence too.
I like the Ulta/Target partnership but fingers crossed it’s not the end of Ulta and Sephora…..
I’ve only ever seen stand-alone Sephoras.
Sephora carries a lot of brands Ulta doesn’t and vice versa.
I thought the JCP partnership was weird bc around here, most JCPs are anchor stores for malls and most of our Sephoras are in malls, so its duplicative. The sephora that just opened closest to me is part of a strip mall so its stand alone in that sense, so sephora is clearly still opening those stores.
This is really interesting because two of the Ulta stores near me closed during the pandemic.
The store that is still going strong is 30 miles from me. It’s next door to a TJ Maxx and across the street from a Target.
The Ulta near me is in the same plaza as a Target.
lol same
My local strip mall has a super target next to an Ulta so … maybe I’m the test case because I do love the convenience. Also Home goods is next door to that so yeah … some real cheugy mom energy goin on in my burb and I’m here for it.
Same with me….
@Escondista, Are you in northern IL? Because that sound exactly like the strip mall by me!
Target executes so well, I’m psyched we were one of the first to have this store-within-a-store. They have dedicated sales staff, which Oya mentioned and is a game-changer.
They’re carrying MAC and Clinique (both owned by Estee Lauder) and p soon I would bet they get even more of their brands, and possibly some of the ones Sephora carries.
Look for Apple pop-ups coming soon too in Target!
Ugggggghhhhh I miss Target so much. We had them in Canada for a brief, shining moment. I’m still so sad it failed here :'(
I miss them too! My favourite sweaters were from there 🙁
Unrelated: Are curly hair bangs coming back in style? If so my kid will be so happy!
Before the pandemic this would have excited me, but I barely wear make up anymore. I don’t miss the pressure of having to put on a full face every day just to look presentable. But I do love high end skin care so that will continue to be a draw for me.
I already spend all the money at Target. Ultra is just gonna compound that 😂 but I am excited.
I think if they really want to alert shoppers with shock and awe, specialty stores would team with new, fully realized and modern convenience stores. Because at this point, the only time I actually venture inside a building is to pay for gas and grab a coke or coffee. If my favorite places had a wee bit of real estate inside somewhere I have to be, there’s no telling what I’d come home with.
Good bye to all my money.