Storecasting: CVS Launching Upmarket Beauty 360

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Drugstore chain CVS is going upmarket with Beauty 360, a high-end prestige beauty concept store, slated to open in a major East Coast city by the end of 2008, and a West Coast store weeks later. WWD reports that it's going to be Sephora-esque with "no mention of CVS in sight." Though the chain wouldn't confirm exact locations "sources briefed on the initiative said the initial concept stores are planned for Washington, D.C., and Sacramento, Calif., and long-term plans call for 500 to 1,000 stores, with about 100 slated to open in the next year." (We're thinking LA has to be somewhere in that first 100.)

CVS is not releasing the brand names but described the lines as “department store or specialty store brands," and said there will be 32 skin care and cosmetics lines, not including fragrance. The trade notes that the chain looks to have invested in the new shopping environment with "brushed steel accents, white-tiled floors and a wall of sea-foam-colored, hand-cut glass tile." Ranging from 2,500-4,000 square feet, Beauty 360 shops "will either be housed in an adjacent store, accessible to CVS shoppers via a breezeway, or a separate store within a CVS store."

Future developments may include manicures and hand massages. No more walking the aisles while you wait for your prescription that's never done on time? We could get into that. Or, better yet, CVS could invest the same time and money into its pharmacies, and maybe, you know, be competent and timely.
· Moving Into Prestige: CVS Set to Roll Out Luxury Beauty Units [WWD, subscription req]