E-commerce powerhouse Adore Beauty plans to open two retail concept stores in its home state of Victoria this financial year, in a move it says will bolster brand awareness and new customer acquisition. The former Smart50 finalist has signed two leases for the stores, which will be located at the Southland and Watergardens shopping centres and are expected to open in early 2025. The details about the new stores were included in the company’s investor presentation accompanying its 2023-24 full-year results, released on Monday.
The stores will both have a store footprint of between 150-160 square metres, are due to open in the second half of the 2025 financial year, and are “expected to be profitable”, according to the document. SmartCompany reported in February that the online retailer was working with design agency AKQA to “explore how the Adore Beauty brand can be brought to life in a physical format”. The company, which was founded by Kate Morris and James Height and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in October 2020, did not specifically mention bricks-and-mortar retail stores at the time.
But it appeared Adore Beauty was considering what a physical retail store could look like from a brand awareness perspective, while also working on in-person brand activations and events to drive customer awareness, loyalty and sales. Both shopping centres are already home to major beauty retailer Mecca, while the Southland centre also counts Sephora among its tenants.