Kayla Martin sat in a black studio chair in the new Sephora in J.C. Penney at Hanes Mall earlier this week. Fast, upbeat music played in the background.
"That feels soft," Martin said after Lisa Lael, a beauty consultant, applied foundation to her face.
Martin, 17, of Madison, was shopping for makeup that would match her skin tone and look good with her purple, sequined prom dress.
She was one of several customers who had waited for weeks for the Sephora store to open.
Sephora is a retail beauty chain based in Europe that sells skin-care, makeup, hair and fragrance products.
The new store-within-a-store at Hanes Mall will have its official grand opening Friday.
Kenya Smith, a senior product consultant at the new Sephora, said that store attracts customers of all ages. Part of the lure is the store's open-sell philosophy that leaves products out for customers to touch and try, including lip glosses and blushes.
"People can come in and just play," Smith said. "They can put it on."
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. began opening Sephora stores in J.C. Penney locations in October 2006.
Now, there are more than 170 such stores throughout the country.
There are eight Sephora stores in North Carolina. The closest ones to Winston-Salem are in Burlington.
The store's biggest competitor in the region is Ulta, a beauty retailer that describes itself as a combination beauty superstore and specialty store. The closest Ulta stores are at the Shops at Friendly Center in Greensboro and at University Commons in Burlington.
Tim Lyons, a spokesman for J.C. Penney, said that adding Sephora to the company's stores has been successful and that J.C. Penney chose Winston-Salem because there is no other Sephora in the immediate area.
"It is something that appeals to both our existing customers and attracts new customers to our stores who either are familiar with Sephora or maybe want to come and check it out for the first time," Lyons said.
For Sephora, the collaboration with J.C. Penney is an opportunity to enter into markets where it didn't have a presence, Lyons said.
The rough economy has hurt sales at the majority of department stores in the country, including J.C. Penney, said George Whalin, the president and chief executive of Retail Management Consultants, a retail-consulting company in Carlsbad, Calif.
But J.C. Penney's venture with Sephora has been a big help and comes at a time when J.C. Penney has been focusing on becoming a fashion destination for shoppers.
Whalin said that the venture has given J.C. Penney a presence in the cosmetics industry that it has longed for but never had in a meaningful way.
He said that one of the drivers behind this type of store has been the growth of cosmetics in drugstores and supermarkets.
"If you go into any of the major drugstore chains these days, they've got a huge cosmetics department," Whalin said.
He said that Sephora has helped J.C. Penney attract a customer that it typically did not get in the past.
"It's a consumer who's looking for better quality cosmetics, not drugstore brands," Whalin said.
fdaniel@wsjournal.com
727-7366
About Sephora
• Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
• Phone: 768-2510, ext. 390.
• Products: Sephora sells merchandise for the whole body, including face, skin, hair and teeth, for women and men. The store's offering include makeup, skin-care items, fragrances, bath and body items, shampoos and conditioners, hair-styling tools, and tooth-care items.
• Brands: Sephora carries about 50 beauty brands, including Bare Escentuals, Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Harajuku Dolls, Kim Kardashian, Nars, Ojon, Philosphy and Urban Decay. Sephora also has its own collection of makeup, skin-care items, bath and body products, tools and accessories.
• Price Range: $10 to $280.
Source: Sephora at J.C. Penney
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement