Target bets on its own prestige beauty studio after the Ulta split

Target will launch a reimagined prestige beauty destination, called a beauty studio, across more than 600 stores from 10 September, carrying around 90 brands, more than two-thirds of which are new to the retailer. The rollout follows the end of Target's shop-in-shop partnership with Ulta Beauty, and represents the retailer's attempt to build its own prestige beauty authority rather than lean on a specialist partner.

The stakes are significant. The Ulta tie-up had given Target credibility with beauty shoppers seeking prestige brands without leaving a mass retailer, a format that helped offset slower growth elsewhere in general merchandise. Losing that partnership without a credible replacement risked ceding those customers to Ulta's own stores, Sephora, or e-commerce. By curating a largely new brand roster and giving beauty a dedicated physical format, Target is signalling it wants to own the prestige beauty relationship directly rather than outsource it.

This lands in a beauty retail landscape that is being reshuffled across the board: Old Navy is rolling out its own beauty concept nationwide with a private label line, and Sephora continues to expand into adjacent categories such as scalp care. For Target, the test will be whether shoppers trust a mass retailer's own beauty curation at prestige price points, and whether the new brand mix can drive the kind of basket growth Ulta once delivered. Early sales data from the launch will be the first real signal of whether the bet pays off.

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