The luxury retailer’s imminent launch of standalone beauty stores in English malls in Essex and Milton Keynes taps a younger demographic.
London’s famed Harrods department store is opening its first suburban beauty store, H Beauty, at the Intu Lakeside mall.
Marking the retailer’s first stand-alone beauty store and presence in the county of Essex, the space will have its own visual identity and house 80 of the 250 brands that Harrods stocks at its Knightsbridge flagship store. While customer traffic at its flagship store is primarily dominated by tourists and an older demographic, the move to Essex will allow the brand to reach a younger, regional consumer. The store will feature make-up stations, virtual try-on mirrors and masterclasses for shoppers.
‘In a lot of the regional locations, there’s been very little innovation,’ says Annalise Fard, director of beauty at Harrods. ‘It really reinforces the need to create a safe one-stop shop for beauty lovers who can trust us [and] trust that they’re going to have a great experience, but not compromise on product or price either.’
In the wake of Covid-19 – and even pre-pandemic – luxurians have been looking to quieter spaces beyond cities for retail experiences, with H Beauty demonstrating the trend of Suburban Submersion in action.
