Glossier is entering its first retail partnership, opening temporary shops in seven Nordstrom stores, including the new Nordstrom flagship location in Manhattan, from Dec. 3 through Feb. 16, 2020. The pop-up shops will sell the direct-to-consumer beauty brand’s popular “Glossier You” fragrance, which debuted in October 2017 and has since become one of the highest-rated products on Glossier.com.
Within Nordstrom’s New York flagship, the department store already hosts products from many up-and-coming retailers and brands, such as Birdies, Reformation, Kendra Scott and Dirty Lemon. The store initially carried merchandise from Everlane as part of the department store’s “Pop In @ Nordstrom” concept, which rotates in a new brand every few weeks. It is unclear whether the Glossier products will be housed within the “Pop In @ Nordstrom” space or in their own designated area.
Nordstrom’s approach to working with younger, popular digital natives is becoming a strategic move for department stores in general. Kohl’s has brought brands such as Adore Me, Kid Made Modern, Lovepop and United by Blue into 50 stores through its curation partnership with Facebook, and Macy’s has tested b8ta’s retail-as-a-service technology to power and expand its The Market @ Macy’s pop-up locations.
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In an interview with CNBC, Glossier CEO Emily Weiss said Glossier was “highly involved” in the hiring and training process for the sales associates who will staff the seven shops into 2020.
The six other Glossier spaces will be at Nordstrom locations in Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Santa Anita, Calif. Glossier has operated its own pop-up shops in cities such as Boston; Austin, Texas; Miami; and London, on top of its two permanent locations in New York and Los Angeles.
Glossierhas experienced a dramatic rise in recent years, from beauty blog to massive social media presence. The company surpassed $100 million in annual sales while acquiring 1 million new customers in 2018, and it raised $100 million in March 2019 to reach a valuation of $1.2 billion. In total, Glossier has raised $186 million in venture capital from Tiger Global Management, Spark Capital and others.
