Target will open its first solo prestige beauty concept, Target Beauty Studio, in 600 stores on September 10, stocking more than 60 new brands after ending its Ulta shop-in-shop partnership in August.

The move is part of a broader push by mass retailers into premium beauty. Walmart last year added 100 premium brands and over 40 more this year, including Living Proof and Murad, both also sold at Sephora, with prices reaching the $90 range. Walmart is shaping itself into a premium beauty "destination," Silvia Azrai Kawas, EVP of consumables at Walmart US, told Retail Brew. The retailer has placed beauty sections at the front of remodeled stores and launched a Beauty Experts pilot program earlier this year.

The shift follows years of channel disruption. Amazon now accounts for a quarter of US beauty sales after growing nearly 20% to $34 billion last year, attracting Charlotte Tilbury and Sol de Janeiro to its Premium Beauty store. TikTok Shop has become the fourth-ranked US health and beauty e-commerce retailer in 2026, per NielsenIQ, with sellers including Clinique and Glossier.

"Discovery happens everywhere now," Jacqueline Flam Stokes, managing director of beauty & health at NielsenIQ, told Retail Brew. Shoppers have become "channel agnostic," and 99% of prestige shoppers have also purchased mass products in the last year, she noted. "People are not doing one or the other anymore."

Brands cross the aisle

Retailers tried this before, with limited success. CVS opened its Beauty 360 concept in 2008 and closed it by 2012, hampered by competition from department stores, Sephora, and the recession. At the time, brands feared mass distribution would erode equity and block prestige sales, Stokes said. "Brands don't want to be the first one that steps over," said Linda Voracek, founder and CEO of retail consultancy Lmv & Co and a former merchandising exec at Sally Beauty and Longs Drug Stores.

Attitudes have changed. Sunscreen brand Supergoop!, which chose Sephora as its first retail partnership in 2011, made its mass debut at Target in January and launched an Amazon Premium Beauty storefront in May. "If we wanted to stay grounded in our mission, we needed to drive accessibility," Katie Glowski, Supergoop!'s SVP and GM of North America sales, told Retail Brew. The brand shifted marketing from women and facial sunscreens to families and its PLAY body products.

Other moves abound. Urban Outfitters, aiming to become a "beauty empire" per head of non-apparel merchandising Karen Booker, recently added Sol de Janeiro and Yes Day. CVS's assortment now includes Vacation and Color Wow. Gap launched in-house brand Gap Beauty this summer. Estée Lauder has pulled back at department stores amid a shift toward high-growth channels like Amazon and TikTok Shop.

Specialty fights back

Ulta's high-low structure is now "less of a story," Voracek said, since Target is following the same playbook. CEO Kecia Steelman pointed to Ulta's TikTok Shop launch and its focus on newness and exclusivity in March. In June, Ulta announced a Bath & Body Works partnership with exclusive distribution of certain classic scents. Chief retail officer Amiee Bayer-Thomas said services like hair salons, ear piercing, and makeup consultations drive higher spend and loyalty, and the retailer will hold 140,000 events this year.

Sephora launched a Beauty Insider Celebration Month in August and announced its TikTok Shop debut this month. "We're not here to overlap with mass—we want to bring the best of prestige," global chief merchandising officer Priya Venkatesh told Retail Brew. "When we say prestige, it's about a store experience."

The service gap

Adding higher-priced brands does not automatically replicate specialty's high-touch model, which Retail Brew previously reported contributed to the downfall of Ulta Beauty in Target shops. Target COO Lisa Roath said on the Q2 earnings call the retailer is training "dedicated beauty advisors" for the new concept, and Beauty Studios will feature "product testing opportunities for select items." Glowski called the current lack of testers at Target a "challenge," relying on visual merchandising to call out premium formulas and ingredients. Walmart's Kawas said online try-on and recommendations from its AI engine, Sparky, can replicate the tester experience.

Curation will matter more than selection as premium beauty spreads everywhere, Stokes said. Some Walmart and Target locations also lock up select higher-priced items, blocking the "buy-in experience" beauty thrives on, she noted.

How far mass retailers can take their high-end concepts remains open. "The customer will tell us," Kawas said. "We're only going to stop when the customer says, 'Oh yeah, I really don't want that.'"