Boots will open its first-ever dedicated beauty store, called “Boots Beauty,” on Wednesday in London’s Battersea Power Station shopping centre.
At over 11,000 square feet, the store will include new-to-Boots brands such as Ariana Grande’s cosmetics line R.E.M Beauty and Gen-Z skin care label Bubble, as well as indie brands including hair care company No Knot Co, sustainable cosmetics seller Fruu and Silke London, which makes silk hair care accessories.
Walgreens-owned Boots has rejuvenated over 170 of its beauty halls across the UK over the last three years. Jenna Ward, head of beauty reinvention at Boots, said the company partnered with dermatologist Dr. Justine Hextall to curate the selection of brands with a strong skin care focus.
”Overwhelmingly, we hear from customers that they want more access to skin care, and we believe we can be really strong in it because of our health care heritage and credentials,” said Ward.
As interest in science-backed skin care grows, Boots is trying to make their mark by building a bridge between medicine and retail. To that end, Dr. Hextall has trained in-store pharmacists to be able to carry out consultations, which are available on a walk-in or pre-booked basis in a private area. New services also include Dermalux LED light therapy sessions at £60 per appointment. Boots Beauty will also offer masterclasses, a fragrance refill station and digital fragrance finder tool, beauty product recycling services, and hair styling sessions.
The concept is slated to roll out into more stores in the coming months, as Boots further experiments with its beauty offering: In October, the company opened a pop-up salon in London and widened its prestige hair care offering by 400 SKUs.
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