Sephora Manchester opens at Trafford Centre with a HUGE launch party
| 17th May 2024
SEPHORA Fever – Manchester goes nuts as first store outside London opens at Trafford Centre.
In case you missed it, SEPHORA the cult beauty store has opened in the Trafford Centre, with over two thousand beauty fans queuing round the block to be first in when it opened its doors to the public on Thursday.
VIVA had a sneak preview the day before, rubbing shoulders with celebs and enjoying the Moet, as well as being blessed with the best goody bag ever, valued at more than one thousand pounds!
So why all the fuss? Well the store is gorgeous for a start with the brand’s iconic black and white stripes beckoning you in, where the ultra modern interior follows the distinctive codes of the retail brand with soft geometric shapes, ambient lighting, textured finishes. Fancy.
Exclusive brands
Brands at Sephora Manchester Trafford Centre. Photo by @davebenett
It’s home to over 125 health & beauty brands including a fabulous line up of exclusives such as SEPHORA COLLECTION, Haus Labs by Lady Gaga, Glossier, GXVE Beauty, ONE/SIZE Beauty, Makeup By Mario, Skinfix, Vegamour, The 7 Virtues and Commodity.
The new Trafford Centre store will also be debuting new brands including Adwoa Beauty, Relevant, STRAAND, Salt & Stone and Naked Sundays. In-store exclusives like TATCHA, Glow Hub, Glow Recipe, Coco Cosmetics and Danessa Myricks will be available to swatch and discover, joining cult-favourites like Fenty Beauty, MILK Makeup, Kosas, Drunk Elephant, Sol de Janeiro and more.
Hair, brows, skin and make up hub
Brow Bar at Sephora's Manchester Trafford Centre. Photo by @davebenett.
As part of the retailer’s commitment to the immersive shopping experience in its stores, the grand Beauty Hub will take a premium position in the Trafford Centre; the shopping hub of the North and offer a range of unique beauty services and treatments performed by in-house experts.
The Beauty Hub in Manchester will boast a luxe open plan design – an accessible update to the original 360 circular shape that will allow more space for services SEPHORA cast members, all trained at the SEPHORA University, will provide the insightful & knowledgeable customer service expected from the fans of the brand with many being recruited from the local community, as well as globally from existing stores.
Its professional makeup services will be provided by its beauty advisors and a menu of express skin treatments will be on offer from brands including Elemis and Dermalogica. Hair styling from Dyson will also be on site.
Other services and features will include: The Benefit Brow Bar; personalised fragrance engraving as well as grown Alchemist facials and consultations (exclusive to the Manchester Trafford Centre store).
Warm Mancunian welcome
An incredible mix of Northern talent for the Trafford Centre opening. Pictures by @davebenett.
The Wednesday VIP night was a blast with Corrie stars, a sprinkle of Real Housewives, presenters, beauty bloggers and journalists being entertained by homegrown talent
Paying homage to the northern roots of Manchester City Centre, the team worked with an incredible mix of Northern talent for the Trafford Centre opening whereby guests were treated to live musical performances from the iconic Liquorice Black, Sweet Female Attitude, LILL and Coco Cannell.
These performances continued on official opening day in the lead up to ribbon cutting and doors opening.
The excitement and buzz from opening night was still in the air as flocks of eager beauty fans queued outside the store since the night before in order to be the first customers to get through the doors of this mega beauty playground.
Since the first two store openings in the Capital, queues of beauty fans have continued as the store’s popularity has gone from strength to strength. Therefore, it’s no surprise that dedicated fans decided to camp out in the Trafford Centre the evening before.
By 8am on opening morning more than 2000 customers were already outside queuing with more expected to join.
Boss Lady
Sarah Boyd, SEPHORA UK MD, Manchester Trafford Centre retail team officially mark the opening of the new store. Pictures by @davebenett.
Sarah Boyd, SEPHORA UK MD told VIVA: “The vibrant atmosphere and long awaited anticipation for today has been outstanding. With it being our first expansion to the North, it is no surprise eager fans and beauty enthusiasts have been queueing since the night before and this has continued throughout the day which is a true testament to the UK’s growing appetite for SEPHORA.
“By 8am we were hitting nearly 2000 eager customers. I can’t wait for them to see the store and all the incredible work from the team that has gone into Manchester’s first SEPHORA store opening.”
It was worth it for the first five hundred customers who received a complimentary gift bag jam packed with high value goodies.
But don’t worry if you missed it as lucky beauty enthusiasts can also be in with a chance of getting their hands on a gift bag throughout opening week, as the store will be giving away complimentary goodie bags until Sunday every day for the first 100 customers.
Run, don’t walk!