Target ends Ulta partnership, bets on its own Beauty Studio format

Target has confirmed the end of its in-store partnership with Ulta Beauty, closing a chapter that brought Ulta shop-in-shops to hundreds of Target locations. In its place, Target is rolling out a new format called Target Beauty Studio, designed to fill the gap left by the departing partner and to give the retailer more direct control over its beauty assortment and presentation, according to Retail Dive.

The split is significant because it reverses one of the more closely watched cross-retail beauty tie-ups of the past several years, one that gave Target access to prestige and specialty beauty brands it could not easily stock on its own, while giving Ulta a route into Target's broader, younger customer base. Analysts cited by Retail Dive suggest the change could benefit Target over the longer term by letting it build a beauty identity distinct from Ulta's, rather than acting as a satellite for another retailer's brand.

The move lands amid continued churn in prestige and mass beauty distribution, as department stores, specialty chains and mass retailers all compete for the same shelf space and the same shoppers trading between price points. For luxury and prestige beauty brands, the practical question is where a proprietary Target format leaves their access to mass-market reach, and whether Ulta redirects resources toward its own stores and e-commerce now that a major wholesale-style distribution channel has closed. What to watch is how quickly Target Beauty Studio scales, and whether any prestige brands follow Ulta out of Target doors or negotiate direct deals of their own.

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