Sephora to open 100 shop-in-shops inside Marks & Spencer UK stores

Sephora will install "Sephora at M&S" beauty shops inside 100 Marks & Spencer locations and on marksandspencer.com starting next spring, the retailers said Tuesday. The agreement is Sephora's biggest U.K. expansion move since reopening on London's Carnaby Street this summer.

The deal gives Sephora access to one of Britain's most-trafficked general-merchandise footprints. It gives M&S a prestige-beauty anchor inside a category where it currently holds just over 1% market share, per WorldPanel by Numerator data cited in the joint press release.

M&S views the partnership as a customer-acquisition lever. "Beauty is an important category for M&S, with the potential to attract new customers to shop with us and give existing customers the opportunity to shop with us more often," said John Lyttle, managing director of fashion, home and beauty at M&S.

How large is the U.K. beauty prize?

The U.K. beauty market is approaching roughly $7 billion and grew 1.2% in the 12 months ending July 19, according to WorldPanel by Numerator data. M&S's existing assortment is narrow, leaving room for Sephora to add discovery and trial without direct cannibalization.

How does this compare with the U.S. Kohl's deal?

The structure mirrors Sephora's 2020 shop-in-shop pact with Kohl's, which the U.S. department store long pitched as a traffic and sales driver. That relationship has reversed in 2026, with the shops now dragging on Kohl's quarterly results.

GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders sees a meaningful contrast in the two hosts' starting positions.

"M&S is in a strong position, and it already has plenty of traffic drivers to stores — especially the food offer," Saunders said by email. "M&S also has its own beauty and personal care assortment, albeit one that is fairly narrow. Comparatively, Kohl's added Sephora to a core proposition that was struggling and the offer jarred a little with the rest of the Kohl's store."

Saunders labeled the M&S move tactical. The retailer has been building credibility with younger shoppers, he noted, and sees Sephora as a way to convert that cohort into beauty customers.

What does Sephora want from the deal?

For Sephora, the M&S spaces accelerate a U.K. return that began with the Carnaby Street opening this summer.

"Our UK launch has been such a huge success, that we wanted to go further and faster," said Catherine Spindler, Sephora's president of Europe and Middle East. "Our partnership with M&S is the next evolution of this strategy, introducing a retail model that complements our existing formats and allows us to build on the strength of the Sephora brand in the UK."

The arrangement will test whether a prestige-beauty shop-in-shop can thrive inside a U.K. general-merchandise chain with its own distinct beauty proposition. M&S plans to keep investing in private-label beauty alongside the Sephora spaces. Whether the partnership lifts M&S's beauty share from its low-single-digit base — or fragments it — will become clearer when the first 100 doors open next spring.