Space NK sees festive sales jump, plans new stores as it preps upsized Westfield debut

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 16, 2023

Premium beauty retailer Space NK is to invest more money into its physical stores business, the company’s CEO has said following news of growth in sales over Christmas.

The London-based Manzanita Capital-owned firm said combined November and December sales rose 28% year-on-year, and they were a massive 60% above the same festive period in 2019, London newspaper the Evening Standard reported. 

This was helped by its heavy investment in its digital operations, as well as a doubling of warehouse capacity, the fact that there were no pandemic restrictions at all for the first time since 2019, and also the debut of a flagship store at the new high-profile Battersea Power Station shopping mall. This opened as the Christmas shopping season began to pick up pace in October.

It's an important development for the brand that’s boosting the experience level in its physical stores with the new location including sustainability-focused refill stations and skincare treatment rooms.

The company’s stores are concentrated in key shopping areas with 23 of the 73 UK locations being in London.

And this week sees the opening of an upsized store at Westfield London, which is four times the size of its previous location. As well as coming hot on the heels of the opening of the Battersea store, its comes after last summer's debut of its first shop over two floors in London's Covent Garden.

CEO Andy Lightfoot said the company has plans for “at least” four more new UK openings this year.

He told the Evening Standard, that he believes physical retail provides “an essential aspect of customer experience. In 2023 Space NK will continue to evolve our store experience. We believe this is what needs to be done to connect with new and existing customers”.