Hudson’s Bay has added three Space NK locations to its Canadian stores, effectively doubling the number of shop-in-stores for the UK-based beauty apothecary concept in the Canadian market. It’s part of an effort on the part of Hudson’s Bay to grow market share for its beauty business as competitors such as Sephora continue to open stores.
New Space NK locations at Hudson’s Bay in Canada include shop-in-stores at the Queen Street flagship in downtown Toronto, at CF Carrefour Laval near Montreal and at CF Market Mall in Calgary. They join three existing Space NK shop-in-stores at Hudson’s Bay that opened in October of 2021 in downtown Montreal and downtown Vancouver as well as at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre.
Online portal TheBay.com also carries the full range of prestige and indie beauty brands from Space NK including haircare, makeup, skincare, bath, body, and fragrance.
“Space NK at the Bay is an unmatched experience—customers will discover the most sought-after brands, many of which are new to Canada, complemented by our incredible and expansive beauty assortment,” says Laura Janney, Chief Merchant at The Bay.
Currently, 18 brands are featured at Space NK in Canada including Chantecaille, Boy Smells, Tata Harper, Sunday Riley, Dr. Dennis Gross, R+Co, Kevyn Aucoin and most recently Malin + Goetz. In addition to the availability at Hudson’s Bay locations, 25 other stores also feature branded Space NK ‘haircare towers’.
Hudson’s Bay says that it plans to open more Space NK shop-in-stores into 2023. The move signals the retailer’s intentions to beef up operations in its beauty halls that are seeing increased competition.
That includes LVMH-owned Sephora which said in a press release last year that it was planning to open an additional 50 stores in Canada. Sephora already has expanded aggressively in the Canadian market including in 2016 when it launched a ‘takeover’ of the Toronto market which saw new stores open and others expanded.
Shoppers Drug Mart has been adding more beauty brands to some of its stores as part of its beautyBOUTIQUE initiative. Even brands such as Chanel can be found in some Shoppers Drug Mart stores and competitor Rexall has also been growing its beauty business, albeit at a slower pace.
Large-format retailers Holt Renfrew and Nordstrom also have robust beauty floors — Holt Renfrew’s six large stores boast many of the world’s top brands while Nordstrom offers a range of unique products at various prices. At the more affordable end is Walmart which in the US will be launching some Space NK shop-in-stores according to an announcement last month.
