Harrods to open more H Beauty stores in UK

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 23, 2021

Harrods is clearly pleased with the response to its first two H Beauty standalone stores as the luxury retailer is planning to open three more premium beauty specialist locations over the next year.

It will debut in three key cities — Edinburgh, Bristol and Newcastle — following its first openings in Essex’s Lakeside mall and in Milton Keynes’ Centre:MK.

The company said the addition of three more locations is “a milestone in this strategic domestic growth project for Harrods. The unprecedented circumstances of the last year have had a huge impact on the retail industry, forcing many retailers to close their doors, yet Harrods has consistently responded to the changing retail landscape with bold and effective solutions”. 

It said that H beauty “leverages Harrods’ reputation for exceptional retail experiences and its market-leading beauty offering, to fulfil a gap in the diverse and expansive UK beauty sector. The continued expansion of will not only breathe new life into existing retail space, but will also create several hundred important job opportunities across regional hubs throughout the UK”.

The new Edinburgh store will arrive in the St James Quarter development at the start of Q4. That’s one of the most significant city centre transformations currently under way in the UK. 

Then, early next year, H beauty will open at The Mall at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol, and later that year at Newcastle’s Metrocentre. This third opening will be the largest store yet and will bring the national H beauty footprint to over 127,000 sq ft of prime beauty retail space.

The retailer said that both of the two existing H Beauty stores “have continued to thrive” since opening, despite the challenges of the past year.

The chain has neatly exploited the Harrods connection and its association with luxury while creating stores that are more widely accessible with a combination of ultra-luxe and premium brands.

And its growth cones as the original Harrods flagship in Knightsbridge has benefited from massive beauty investment in recent years with the opening of its 90,000 sq ft Beauty Hall in 2019, shortly before the pandemic hit.

H Beauty replicates a big chunk of the Beauty Hall experience with a combination of heritage brands and pioneering newcomers, exclusive launches and an immersive retail experience via interactive Playtables, Skincare Stations and the H beauty Champagne Bar.