Angélique DE ALMEIDA TC2

Brand Evaluation

Anita E. Radford I. The company

Originating in France, Dominique Mandonnaud changed the cosmetic industry when he launched the first store in 1969. It was a new concept of free access to the products: an “open space” shopping environment. Sephora was a popular chain of stores specialized in selling cosmetic and beauty care products and still being it.
In 1979, ten new stores were opened in France. In 1994, the company chose the name “Sephora” for all its stores. Later, it was acquired in 1997 by LVMH, Moët Henessy Louis Vuitton, a well-established conglomerate based in Paris. Under LVMH, Sephora developed more ambitious expansion plans. Almost immediately, the company more than doubled its number of stores. Then, the company began to target expansion into the European market.
Branching out of Europe, Sephora turned to the international market, opening its first most important store in New York City in 1998 and became one of the fastest growing retailers in the United States. Later, it opened its first US stores in Canada in 2004. It expanded to about 750 stores spread over 21 countries and has also expanded in China and Brazil.
Now, Sephora represents the worldwide symbol of the beauty industry. In France, Sephora is a leading player in the beauty segment, but has to deal with competition coming from two parts: generalist brands like Marionnaud, Nocibé, Yves-Rocher, hypermarkets etc. and ultra-specialist brands of hair products or beauticians for example.

------------------------------------------------- Origin of “Sephora”
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Sephora is a combination of "sephos", which means "beauty"or “pretty” in Greek (the Greek form of Tzipporah (ציפורה), which also means "a female bird" in Hebrew), and was the Biblical name of Zipporah the beautiful wife of Moses.
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What is the meaning of its