Glossier returns to physical retail, with three new stores

Thanks to the arrival of vaccines, the most critical period of the health emergency seems to be behind us. The world is starting to move on again, people are going out again, they're hungry for normality and, as  BoF points out, demand for face-to-face shopping experiences is expected to increase, as is the desire to take off their sweats and put on their makeup. It's the perfect time for physical stores to flourish again. This is confirmed by Glossier, which, following the closure of all of its stores, temporary and permanent, last March due to security restrictions imposed by the global pandemic, is announcing their reopenings with a post on the brand's official blog. 

Our team…slowly faced the reality that Glossier retail, a communal experience that often drew lines down the block, wouldn’t reopen until being together was safe again. - Said founder Emily Weiss - Now, as parts of the world begin to emerge from the worst of the pandemic, the world of Glossier is ready to exist again in 3D.

While on Instagram, the businesswoman said that, although 80% of sales come from their website, the brand's physical stores and pop-ups remain a very important tool, celebrated at every opening with long lines of beauty addicts looking for one of their products:

Since Day 1, our stores have been an essential part of bringing the world of Glossier to life. Whether it was a makeshift pop-up in the conference room of our original office in downtown NYC, a “Glossier Canyon” in LA, a roadside attraction in Austin, or a greenhouse in Seattle, our stores have always been about more than selling products. City by city, we imagined a new world through Glossier-colored glasses. 

Glossier will open three brand new permanent stores: Seattle in August, Los Angeles in the fall, and London in the winter, with more to be added in New York and other cities throughout 2022. As always, the interior design of each space will feature millennial pink and be inspired by the city where it's located:

We’re returning to places and communities we know and love: our new home in Los Angeles isn’t far from our former location on Melrose Place. In Seattle… our store design plays with the juxtaposition of nature and technology. In London, we’ll be following our most successful temporary store of all time with our first-ever permanent international flagship. 

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Image from Pinterest

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Last summer, an anonymous collective of former Glossier employees called Outta The Gloss complained about a series of misconduct by the brand including "anti-Blackness, transphobia, ableism, and retaliation". To remedy the problem, Weiss said he held several conversations with former employees, which led to a revamp of the team and a new code of conduct rooted in "authenticity, integrity, inclusion, fairness and empathy." The effects can also be seen in the new retail spaces that will be focused "people first, products second," as the founder herself points out:

Over the past year, we invested our energy in connecting with our community digitally and in reimagining our stores—everything from design to employee experience—for the future... Each of these stores is designed to inspire everyone to find joy and confidence in their personal beauty style, with a customer journey centered around self-discovery and belonging.