Thousands of Shoppers Queue as Sephora Opens Two New Stores at the Same Time in the North East
Today, Sephora UK opened two new beauty retail destinations in the North East at Newcastle’s Eldon Square and Gateshead’s Metrocentre, the 4th and 5th stores to be added to Sephora’s expanding portfolio of physical stores in the UK.
Before the official opening time of 9:13am (an opening time that reflects the stores’ Friday 13th opening date), anticipation and excitement filled the halls of Metrocentre and Eldon Square with queues of eager of beauty obsessed customers – where many joined the queue since 5pm the evening prior – to be the first ones through the doors of both of these mega beauty playgrounds.
From 7AM, queuing customers at the Metrocentre were treated to live performances outside the store from musical talents DJ Azula Bandit with host Ginger Johnson, while those queing outside the store in Eldon Square danced along to the tunes of DJ Francesca Traxx with Choriza May hosting, each keeping spirits high in customers. Queuing customers at the Metrocentre and Eldon were also treated to complimentary sweet and savoury pastries from iconic British bakery chain Greggs, as a nod to its Newcastle roots.
As part of the excitement, queue entertainment played into the Friday the 13th theme, reframing the superstition around the date by bringing lucky moments such as product gifting and merch to shoppers throughout the morning. Right before 9:13am, a select group of Sephora Beauty Advisors performed a celebratory choreographed dance ahead of each ribbon cutting, followed a countdown with the Sephora teams and crowds to 9:13am.
By 9am this morning, both Metrocentre and Eldon Square had thousands of customers combined queuing outside the Sephora stores with many more shoppers expected to come today and this weekend. Lucky beauty enthusiasts who didn’t come on opening day still have the chance of getting their hands on a gift bag throughout opening weekend, as each store will be giving away complimentary goodie bags until Sunday every day for the first 100 customers.
"The North East gave us the best Geordie welcome as we opened our doors in both the Metrocentre and Eldon Square. Opening two incredible stores at the exact same time is a bold step, taken out of a real recognition of the vibrant and exciting beauty community in the region. We absolutely loved the energy that our customers and our cast members brought today, we are extremely grateful to all of them, and to our mall partners. Here's to the next days, weeks, months and years of welcoming all the passionate beauty lovers of the region to the magic of Sephora" Sarah Boyd, Managing Director, Sephora UK
Featured image credit: Dave Bennett
