Avon to open UK physical stores, expand Superdrug deal

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 14, 2023

Beauty firm Avon is taking a signifiant step in the UK, opening physical stores for the first time in over a century of operating in the market.

The brand that was originally sold by ‘Avon ladies’ in customers’ own homes has more recently moved online, but hasn’t operated physical stores in its 137 years in Britain.

The first Avon stores will open in the next two months with the company saying customers have responded positively to its physical shops elsewhere.

The firm now operates 63 stores in Turkey that have helped to accelerate its growth rate there. And as it opens spaces in Britain, it’s also opening physical shops in Brazil and South Africa.

The exact number and location of any stores isn’t yet known, but they’re unlikely to be on high streets with global CEO Angels Cretu saying they’ll be in “neighbourhood communities”.

The stores are expected to be fairly small, carrying around 150  items with the full range available only through its sales representatives who remain a key part of the brand’s business model. In fact, the stores will be run by reps as franchisees.

The move into bricks and mortar makes sense given that some 80% of beauty sales are made through stores, just as the firm's pivot to a business model that included online sales some years ago made sense.

And it continues another initiative froth company that has seen its products debuting in-store, albeit not in company-operated spaces. It has had a 100-store and online deal with Superdrug since September that’s now to be expanded. Later this month, it will cover hundreds of stores with eventual plans for all of Superdrug’s 800 stores to carry the brand.