At the same time, Promodes set a high asking price for the company, making it impossible for Mandonnaud to purchase back the shares in the chain. Mandonnaud approached a private equity group, Apax Partners, with a plan to back a buyout of the Shop 8 chain. That plan soon took on momentum after a visit from another private equity group, Astorg, part of Suez, which had become interested in the Shop 8 format.
Mandonnaud approached both groups, suggesting that the two equity firms join together to back Mandonnaud in a buyout of the retail chain. Apax and Astorg agreed to back Mandonnaud's plans for the company's expansion.
They also agreed to Mandonnaud's stipulations to set an exit date before Mandonnaud's 50th birthday, when he intended to retire. The buyout was completed in , with Mandonnaud's holding vehicle, Altamir, maintaining majority control of the company. The three partners then set out to achieve an expansion plan calling for the opening of from three to five stores per year.
Yet these plans quickly ran into difficulties, as the French economy entered a severe downturn. Instead, the company began seeking to acquire an existing perfume chain in order to achieve their growth objectives. In the meantime, Mandonnaud had begun developing an expanded version of his assisted self-service format. In , the company launched the new format under a new name, Mille et Un Parfums, with a first store in the Belle-Epine shopping mall in Val-de-Marne, near Paris.
The new format featured not only a larger selling space than the company's other stores, but a more upscale, luxury-oriented interior and graphic design, as well. The year marked a turning point for the company. The continued search for an acquisition target had brought the company into contact with the U.
That chain had been founded in , when Boots opened a first store on Paris's Rue de Passy. By , Boots had expanded the perfume business, launching the Sephora brand in partnership with department store group Nouvelles Galeries.
That company became part of Boots PLC in Under Boots' control, the Sephora chain grew quickly, becoming the largest perfume specialist in the highly fragmented French market.
Nonetheless, the chain, which had adopted a similar format to Boots's retail mix in the U. The acquisition not only boosted Shop 8's total network to nearly 50 stores, it also gave the group a number of prime city center locations, including a presence in most of the major Parisian shopping streets. Following the purchase, Mandonnaud announced the company's intention to roll out the Mille et Un Parfum format across the entire chain, and at the same time, all of the stores, as well as the company itself, were rebranded under the Sephora brand name.
Sephora continued expanding its chain into the mids. By , the company operated 54 stores throughout France, and controlled some 8 percent of the total French retail perfume market. Featuring 1, square meters of selling space, roughly triple the company's average store size, the new store served as the model for future group store developments. Mandonnaud and partners prepared to exit their investments before Mandonnaud's birthday in The partners initially investigated a public offering.
However, because Mandonnaud himself prepared to retire from the company's direction, the group instead opted to find a buyer for the company. Almost immediately, the company more than doubled its number of stores, through the acquisition of the Marie Jeanne-Godard chain. That chain, rebranded under the Sephora name, added 75 stores and more than FRF million in revenues, boosting Sephora's control of the French perfume market to 18 percent. By the end of , Sephora's sales had already topped the FRF 2 billion.
Sephora turned to the international market, opening its first flagship store in New York City in The company then began to target expansion into the European market. Unfortunately, your web browser does not have JavaScript enabled at this moment, which will cause errors if you proceed on our website. Sephora is a visionary beauty-retail concept founded in France by Dominique Mandonnaud in Sephora's unique, open-sell environment features an ever-increasing amount of classic and emerging brands across a broad range of product categories including skincare, makeup, fragrance, body and hair care, in addition to Sephora's own private label.
Today, Sephora is not only the leading chain of perfume and cosmetics stores in France, but also a powerful beauty presence in countries around the world. Sephora operates its retail network on a stand-alone basis. In principle, Sephora does not grant any rights to third parties to operate its store concept and to use the Sephora trademark. However, you can find our current career opportunities on our website.
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