Target will replace the Ulta Beauty shops inside more than 600 of its stores with a new in-house concept called Target Beauty Studio, launching this fall, the retailer’s Chief Merchandising Officer Cara Sylvester said this week. The move ends a five-year shop-in-shop partnership that expires in August 2026 and marks one of Target’s biggest beauty strategy changes in years.
The Ulta Beauty at Target partnership launched in 2021, giving shoppers access to a curated selection of prestige beauty brands inside Target stores while allowing Ulta to expand its reach without opening standalone locations. Last August, both companies announced they had mutually agreed not to renew the partnership when it expires this summer.
Customers will still be able to shop Ulta Beauty locations inside Target stores through August. Those who have linked their Ulta Beauty Rewards and Target Circle accounts will continue earning rewards on eligible purchases until the partnership officially ends.
Rather than replacing Ulta with another retailer, Target is investing heavily in its own beauty business.
The new Target Beauty Studio will feature more than 80 prestige, global and emerging beauty brands, including approximately 60 brands that have never before been available at Target. The retailer also plans to introduce exclusive product launches available only through Target while expanding beauty-focused Target Circle offers and testing new staffing models designed to improve customer service.
Executives say the goal is to transform beauty into a destination category inside Target stores, creating a shopping experience that encourages discovery while making prestige beauty products more accessible to mainstream consumers.
The move reflects beauty’s growing importance to Target’s business.
While discretionary spending has slowed across many retail categories, beauty products have remained comparatively resilient, with shoppers continuing to spend on skincare, cosmetics, fragrances and personal care even as they reduce purchases elsewhere. Industry analysts have repeatedly identified beauty as one of retail’s strongest-performing categories over the past several years.
The strategy also changes the competitive landscape.
For Ulta Beauty, the partnership helped expand brand awareness and reach millions of Target shoppers. For Target, ending the agreement means transforming a former partner into a direct competitor.
Ashley Helgans, retail analyst at Jefferies, said the transition increases the likelihood that Target becomes a stronger competitor to Ulta as it expands its own prestige assortment and introduces exclusive products.
The announcement also comes during a period of leadership change at Target.
The company is now led by Chief Executive Officer Michael Fiddelke, making the beauty initiative one of the first highly visible merchandising strategies under the retailer’s new leadership. Analysts have suggested improving the in-store shopping experience will be critical as Target works to reverse softer customer traffic while competing more aggressively with both specialty beauty retailers and online marketplaces.
Retail analyst David Bellinger of Mizuho Securities previously wrote that Target’s execution challenges—including staffing levels and in-store operations—likely contributed to the companies’ decision not to extend the Ulta partnership. The success of Target Beauty Studio will therefore serve as an early test of whether Target can independently deliver a premium beauty experience.
Competition within prestige beauty has become increasingly intense.
Alongside Ulta’s standalone stores, Sephora continues expanding through its partnership with Kohl’s, while department stores, specialty retailers and online beauty companies continue investing heavily in premium cosmetics and skincare. Winning customer loyalty increasingly depends on exclusive products, knowledgeable staff and personalized shopping experiences rather than simply carrying well-known brands.
For shoppers, the transition means one final opportunity to visit the existing Ulta Beauty shops before they disappear in August. Beginning this fall, customers will instead find Target Beauty Studio locations offering a broader selection of brands, dozens of new products and a shopping experience designed entirely by Target.
Whether that strategy keeps existing customers—or persuades new ones to choose Target over Ulta, Sephora and other beauty retailers—will become one of the retail industry’s most closely watched merchandising experiments over the coming year.
JBizNews Desk | Minneapolis, Minnesota
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