Bluewater bolsters beauty offer as Superdrug opens upsized store

Superdrug has opened a newly upsized store at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent, following news that Sephora will be joining the retail and leisure destination later this year. 

Double the size of its previous unit at Bluewater, the new 8,288 sq ft store offers customers access to the latest health and beauty products, everyday toiletries, beauty treatments and fragrances.

Visitors can shop a wide selection of beauty and personal care products from the likes of Relove by Revolution, Avon and Morphe 2, as well as the retailer's own-brand collections.

It also features a Beauty Studio area, where shoppers can access professional treatments at affordable prices, including threading, waxing, manicure services and a free nail health check.

The opening has created an additional 18 positions, with all existing team members transferring to the new store.

It forms part of the retailer's continued plan to expand its bricks-and-mortar retail footprint, with plans to open 25 new stores in 2024, as it celebrates its 60th year on the British high street.

Nigel Duxbury, Property Director at Superdrug, said: "We are delighted to be opening in a new location at Bluewater.

"We are confident that local customers will love and welcome the new store, as it offers a wide range of popular brands, a luxury fragrance counter as well as our professional Beauty Studio."

The opening comes as Bluewater continues to strengthen its beauty offer, with Superdrug's new store sitting alongside a number of other beauty brands and retailers, including Boots, Dermalogica, Holland & Barrett and Jo Malone London.

It also comes as Sephora prepares to open at the shopping centre later this year, marking its seventh store opening since its return to the UK in 2022, with stores already located at Westfield London, Westfield Stratford and Manchester Trafford Centre.

It also plans to open not one but two new stores in the North East at the Metrocentre in Gateshead and Newcastle's Eldon Square, as well as the Bullring Shopping Centre in Birmingham.

James Waugh, Centre Director at Bluewater, said: "We are always excited to welcome new brands to the centre as well as seeing our established ones investing in their stores.

"Superdrug’s expansion to double its footprint at Bluewater is a brilliant story, and we are sure our guests are going to love exploring the new store and its enhanced offering."