Last year, Sephora Americas president and CEO Calvin McDonald said, “Our focus with the Beauty Tip Workshop, which is the new concept ... was not about trying to reinvigorate brick and mortar strategy that’s not working. That’s not the Sephora way. It really is how we’re imagining the brick and mortar to continue to evolve our experience for the client, which is a full ecosystem of dot-com, mobile and the brick-and-mortar.”(Learn more about who Sephora's shopppers are).
Now, the retailer has announced the opening of Canada's first Beauty TIP Workshop store at the newly expanded Yorkdale Shopping Centre location in Toronto, where digital technology and services have merged with the physical store shopping experience.
The store will feature brands including Bite Beauty, Formula X, Hourglass, Josie Maran, Kat Von D Beauty, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Sephora Collection, Tarte, Too Faced, Nudestix, Algenist, Boscia, Bumble and bumble, Fresh, Glamglow, Laneige, Kate Somerville, Living Proof, Murad, Ole Henriksen, Peter Thomas Roth, Atelier Cologne, Elizabeth and James, Nest Fragrances and Tom Ford. The site also includes a Benefit Brow Bar.
The newly renovated 9,146 square foot expansion of the Yorkdale store includes a workshop area for up to 10 clients, who can learn via group beauty classes led by Sephora experts, access self-guided tutorials using iPad stations and browse the store's shoppable user-generated gallery, The Beauty Board.
The expanded Beauty Studio features 12 seats and offers complimentary makeovers powered by the Sephora + Pantone Color IQ touchscreens that offer recommendations on foundation, lip color and concealer based on skin tone.
The store's Skincare Studio offers personalized consultations and a mini facial service station, as well as the Skincare IQ diagnostic, which helps shoppers choose the best skin care products from among Sephora's offerings.
Sephora's touchscreen Fragrance IQ allows shoppers to search and browse fragrances based on preference.
The move follows Sephora's opening at the Westfield at the World Trade Center. The retail center also includes spaces from Caudalie, Kiehl's, MAC and Dior Cosmetics.
