--- title: "Is Specialty Retail Still The Beauty Kingmaker It Once Was?" url: https://burnaze.com/article/00193957-4134-4397-8040-4da56539771a source: "Beauty Independent" original_url: https://www.beautyindependent.com/specialty-retail-beauty-kingmaker/ author: "Erica La Sala" category: "Beauty & Wellness" industry: "Beauty & Wellness" published: 2026-07-27T04:01:37.000Z modified: 2026-07-27T04:15:25.804Z image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1450101499163-c8848c66ca85?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop --- # Is Specialty Retail Still The Beauty Kingmaker It Once Was? **TL;DR:** Emerging beauty brands are finding alternative paths to growth and exit beyond traditional specialty retail, with digital channels and increased capital access broadening their options. Sephora is no longer the sole kingmaker in the beauty industry, as brands like Uoma Beauty and Hendrix - Miles opt for other retailers like Ulta and Walmart or focus on direct-to-consumer channels. *By Erica La Sala, originally published in Beauty Independent on 2026-07-27. [Read the original](https://www.beautyindependent.com/specialty-retail-beauty-kingmaker/).* ## Key facts - Sephora is no longer the only pathway to growth - Brands need to be omnipresent across channels - Retail partnerships should align with brand values ## Story For years, investors looked to — and sometimes effectively required — a Sephora purchase order before backing a beauty brand, and for good reason. The specialty retailer earned its kingmaker status as brands such as Living Proof, Briogeo, Youth To The People, Ouai and K18 leveraged sales traction there into blockbuster acquisitions. Today, that mandate has changed. As consumers are increasingly reached in a variety of ways, from TikTok to Ulta Beauty, and brand founders have more capital at their disposal, the pathways to growth and exit have broadened considerably. A conversation with industry insiders reveals that the need to land at Sephora early on has diminished, even if securing a spot isn’t a bad idea in and of itself. Still, some brands are opting to skip the store altogether. ## Brand strategies "I launched Uoma Beauty into Ulta in 2019," says Sharon Chuter, founder of Uoma Beauty and Mezuri. "I had a choice between Sephora and Ulta, which was great. People were talking about Ulta growing, but Sephora was still the main thing, so it was a very tough choice. But I started looking at the fact that if you walk into Sephora, it's a sea of sameness. "The way Sephora was built is not really built for inclusivity. There are so many white-owned brands, and color ranges are secondary at best. If you walk into an Ulta, you see a much more diverse consumer and much more diverse brands. For me, that strategy really paid off, and it really built our business to what it is today." Chuter, who later launched a second brand, Mezuri, into Walmart, which has made it a point of emphasis to expand its beauty department, recognized early on that her consumers were in disparate places. She believes that, for beauty brands today, it’s not really a decision of choosing between Ulta and Sephora, but rather "what combination works for your brand." "If you're not in multiple places, you're not doing it right. You need to be everywhere," she says. "It's about having your own channels, having your social commerce channels, having retail, having your Amazon, essentially having your brand as omnipresent as possible." The decision to launch into a retailer often comes down to brand values, according to Lindsay Davis, founder and CEO of luxury fragrance brand Hendrix — Miles. From her perspective, brands shouldn’t "jump at the first retailer that says yes" just to be in a prominent store. She says, "A good retail partner will be with you and grow with you. The bigger fish in the market are only going to take you once you've shown you can actually move products, so I think a lot of brands aren't going to start there. And honestly, it would be a mistake for them to start there." Davis launched Hendrix — Miles last May and focused on its direct-to-consumer channel first. She is now in conversations with retailers, but she aims to "be strategic" in expanding the brand’s footprint. "If it feels like there's too much pushback from a retailer or maybe the marketing story isn't aligning, or it just feels like we're just another fragrance on a shelf, then we push pause," she explains. > "A good retail partner will be with you and grow with you. The bigger fish in the market are only going to take you once you've shown you can actually move products, so I think a lot of brands aren't going to start there. And honestly, it would be a mistake for them to start there." For many brands, Sephora and Ulta were the initial pathway to large-scale awareness and investor dollars. And while they remain important avenues, they are no longer the exclusive ones. ## Market validation "Years ago, it was really hard to grow a brand to $10 million or $20 million without being at Sephora or without being at Ulta in a big way," says Christopher Burch, founder and CEO of Burch Creative Capital, whose ventures include Voss Water, Tory Burch and Solid & Striped. "Today, there's just so many ways to engage the customer that I'm not sure that that's the only way of getting to certain exits. "It still holds a significant position for strategic acquirers because it demonstrates a certain level of validation. If you, as a brand, are able to perform well within Sephora, it implies scalability, customer acceptance and operational efficiency, which are attractive qualities for potential buyers." However, he predicts that the influence of specialty retailers will change, even for "heavyweights" like Sephora and Ulta. The rise of social selling and online communities have created a world where brands no longer have to rely on a traditional retail environment to foster connections with customers. Burch notes that the beauty brand Glossier, which reached a valuation of $1.8 billion in 2021 before experiencing a dip, is a prime example of a brand that has thrived largely without the help of legacy beauty retailers. "Glossier created an omnichannel experience for people with limited retail, but they didn't really need a large retail footprint to become a unicorn at one point," he says. "As long as you understand how to navigate social media, the importance of influencers, and how to have conversations with influencers, you can have a big win." In addition to expanding distribution options, the capital landscape has changed. Not long ago, investors often mandated that brands had to launch at Sephora to secure funding. That’s no longer the case. "Money is not as easy as it was in 2021 and 2022," says Chuter. "But in certain categories, there is still a lot of money and a lot of funds looking to deploy. So, it's not even true to say that there are less funds. What is true to say is that there is more scrutiny in the way that funds are given out." There are also a lot more investors looking to enter the beauty space outside of traditional venture capital. "There are many family offices who are interested in the beauty space that understand it and often also operate within it," Davis says. "So it's not just the same five to 10 VCs that everyone was going after the last few years. There's a lot more opportunity in terms of investment." She concludes, "I think beauty is one of the only categories where you can consistently raise. There's always going to be an appetite for beauty." ## Entities - Beauty & Wellness (sector) - brand growth (topic) - Walmart (company) - digital channels (topic) - Beauty Independent (publication) - Sephora (company) - Ulta Beauty (company) - retail partnerships (topic) - capital access (topic) - Erica La Sala (person) - Glossier (company) - beauty retail (topic) --- Originally reported by Erica La Sala, Beauty Independent (https://www.beautyindependent.com/specialty-retail-beauty-kingmaker/). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/00193957-4134-4397-8040-4da56539771a).