Beauty sales ‘will double’ on back of investment, says Selfridges
SELFRIDGES has said it expects beauty and accessory sales to ‘more than double’ on the back of its investment in the Manchester store’s new beauty hall, which opens today.
The high-end department store has moved its beauty hall to the lower ground floor, having opened up the atrium to allow people to see the hall from the ground floor.
The expansion – which doubles the amount of space given over to beauty and accessories – has created 100 new jobs.
Sue West, retail operations director for Selfridges, told TheBusinessDesk that she expected sales within the beauty hall to increase significantly, particularly over the Christmas period.
“We have doubled the space for that department, so we expect sales to more than double,” she said.
New brands taking space within the beauty hall include Armani, Fake Bake, Suqqu, RMK, and Illamasqua, while Tom Ford has added beauty to its perfume offering and Blink has doubled the space it’s taken to 48 sq ft, adding a nail bar to its lashes and brows offering.
New jewellery brands include George Jenson, Carat, Links, Monica Vinader and Thomas Sabo.
The new hall is part of a wider four-year £20m refurbishment programme of the store.
West said: “The first tranche was the widening of the atriums to allow better access and for the beauty divisions to breathe and give more space. It’s a big investment and it means we are losing ground floor space.
“One of the challenges for this building, with the atrium being small, was being able to see down to the lower ground was not easy and some people didn’t even realise it was there.”
The next phase will see the ground floor fully refurbished in Spring, including a new and expanded Chanel boutique.
“That will probably bring around another 20 jobs, but most of the job creation has been on lower ground floor,” added West.
Work will commence on the top floor towards the end of 2012.
“We have a four year programme, working through the building off the back of the opportunity to expand beauty and accessories, which is our key strength as a business, particularly here in Manchester,” West said.
