Glossier is coming to Sephora
By Parija Kavilanz, CNN Business
Cosmetics company Glossier, which has cultivated a cult-like following among Millennials and Gen Zers, announced Tuesday it is bringing the brand into Sephora stores in its first retail partnership.
Sephora stores nationwide and across Canada will start selling Glossier products beginning in early 2023 as well as on Sephora’s website and app.
The company said the partnership is aimed at making its products accessible to more shoppers. It’s also another step in an ongoing comeback of sorts for Glossier.
The company launched as a direct-to-consumer brand in 2014, steadily rising by actively leveraging social media and catering to the simple beauty routines favored by younger consumers.
The brand debuted with just four products. By 2019, the beauty startup was valued at $1 billion and had opened four standalone stores, including in New York and Los Angeles.
Products such as Cloud Paint blush and Boy Brow pomade made Glossier a household name among its core shoppers. The company also leveraged influencers to reach out directly to its customer base. Then the pandemic hit.
As households went into lockdown and mask-wearing prompted consumers to put away their makeup, Glossier shut all of its physical locations and laid off its retail staff. The company’s problems have grown since then.
In 2020, CEO Emily Weiss and the company apologized after a group of anonymous, self-described former workers publicly accused Glossier of racism and mistreatment inside its stores.
“We’re so sorry that we didn’t create a workplace in which our retail employees felt supported in the most critical ways,” the company wrote.
In January, Glossier laid off a third of its corporate staff. The cuts showed the company may have leaned too heavily into that digital-first ethos. Weiss, who founded Glossier, stepped down as CEO in May.
Since it shut its stores, the company said that in the last year it has opened locations in Seattle, Los Angeles, London and Miami and plans to open more later this year and next.
In a statement, Glossier’s new CEO Kyle Leahy said the Sephora partnership “marks a new chapter in our omnichannel strategy.”
— CNN Business’ Sara Ashley O’Brien and Ramisha Maruf contributed to this story
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