Sephora in Singapore!!! *squeals*

Beauty and cosmetic chain Sephora to open in S'pore on Dec 19

By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 11 December 2008 1832 hrs

SINGAPORE: Established French beauty and cosmetic chain Sephora is due to open its first Southeast Asian store at Orchard Road, Singapore's prime shopping belt on December 19.

The beauty and cosmetic chain has about 1,000 stores in 24 countries. It sees Singapore as a launch pad into India and Malaysia in the future.

The company is bullish about prospects despite the challenging economic outlook.

Ravi Thakran, president, South, Southeast Asia & Australia/New Zealand, Sephora, said: "Singapore gives me a great level of confidence because in the past crisis, Singapore was the first country to bounce back and I still believe very strongly in the vibrancy of Singapore - be it the policy initiatives or the zeal of the people."

Work is underway to prepare its 3,200 square feet shop at Ngee Ann City, one of the major malls along Orchard Road.

The S$2 million outlet will carry over 100 brands, of which one-third will be new to Singapore.

Sephora said its modular retail concept will provide flexibility to cater to changing needs which will give it an upper hand over beauty counters at departmental stores.

Mr Ravi Thaknan added: "Each brand doesn’t have to have a fixed shop which is difficult to change or renovate only once in a year or two years. The whole system in Sephora works like there is a modular wall system and a modular gondola system. With that, it's very easy for us to plug in or plug out a mix of products."

Come next year, Sephora plans to open two to three stores in Singapore and it's currently in talks with new and existing shopping malls.

Sephora also hopes to reach out to a wider segment of consumers.

For instance, it said its stores elsewhere tend to attract 3.5 times more younger consumers and five times more men compared to its competitors.

French luxury group LVMH is teaming up with Singapore-listed retailer RSH Limited in a joint venture to roll out the Sephora stores.

The issued capital is S$4.3 million with LVMH holding a 60 per cent stake. - CNA/vm

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This is my dream come true!! *excited*