Sephora opens first Brisbane store with Beauty Studio in April

Sephora has announced that it would open another Australian store at Westfield Chermside in April. It would be the first store in Brisbane featuring a Beauty Studio allowing customers to receive a complimentary service from Sephora's experts. The 414 sq. m. store will have fixtures directly shipped from US.

The company's country manager Libby Amelia said that they were very excited to launch the first ever Brisbane store. She cited the success of the Pacific Fair store launch on the Gold Coast that led them to open a store to the sunshine state capital.

Centre manager of Westfield Chermside Garth Haslam described that the new Westfield Chermside would provide a retail experience like no other. Haslam said that they were excited to welcome Brisbane's first Sephora as customers wanted to access the best local and global brands. The opening of Sephora in Westfield Chermside is part of Brisbane shopping centre's $355 million redevelopment, which is expected to be the largest Westfield centre in Queensland.

The Brisbane store would be Sephora's eighth Australian store adding to its more than 2,500 stores worldwide. The LVMH-owned beauty retailer has stores in Sydney and Melbourne. In conjunction to the store's opening, the beauty retailer would be adding exclusive brands such as Youth to the People and Huda beauty. Sephora currently stocked more than 40 exclusive beauty brands including its private label Sephora Collection, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Tarte, Kat Von D, Ole Henriksen, Cover Fx, Nudestix, beautyblender, Anastasia Beverly Hills and Ouai Haircare.

In Melbourne, JD Sports announced that it would open its Australian store. The store will open in April in GPT's Melbourne Central. The UK-brand said that it would deliver exclusive offers from popular brands such as Nike, Adidas, Lacoste, Reebok, Ellesse, The North Face and Puma. It would be the brand's first store in Australia.

The US-brand TK Maxx has also announced its opening in April by rebranding its existing Trade Secret stores into TK Maxx shops. The company said that its new stores have no walls between departments to keep it flexible for possible expansion. It promised the customers for an easy-to-shop experience by putting same-sized items in one rack together.

In February, Australian brands including Marcs, David Lawrence, Herringbone and Rhodes & Beckett had announced that they would enter administration. The administrators said that poor cash flow, deteriorating sales and difficult market conditions were among the factors that led the companies to the voluntary administration. The administrators have also seen that foreign brands entering the country affect the sale of the Australian brands.