Fenwick Opens Biggest U.K. Beauty Hall Outside London
LONDON — Family-owned department store Fenwick has opened the largest U.K. beauty hall outside London at its flagship in Newcastle, England, which has been undergoing a multimillion pound refurbishment.
The Fenwick Newcastle beauty hall spans 26,000 square feet, boasts two enlarged atriums and facade windows that stretch for 56 feet and overlook the city’s main shopping thoroughfare. The new space features more than 1,600 square feet of terrazzo flooring, and a 50-foot-long fragrance bar.
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The beauty hall is the fruit of a five-year, 40 million pounds refurbishment of Fenwick’s Newcastle flagship and physical store estate, which was announced in 2022 during the store’s 140th anniversary year.
As reported, the architect Ben Mailen has been working on the exterior of the Newcastle flagship, adding new entrances and frontages with open views into the store. He has been working alongside Sybarite, the London architecture firm, which is designing the interiors.
Hazel Ayers, director of buying and merchandising at Fenwick, said the new hall has been three years in the making and “demonstrates the continual evolution of the Fenwick in-store customer experience. It offers an unrivaled edit, innovative new products and brands, and expert beauty services. This evolution can be seen in all eight of our beauty halls in our stores nationwide.”
The new space offers 163 brands, including 38 fragrances. Categories span makeup, skin care, “contemporary and couture beauty,” niche and prestige fragrance, hair, nails, brows and skin care services. Fenwick said it has added 23 new beauty counters alongside a new fragrance edit concept.
There are city exclusive brands, including Hourglass, Charlotte Tilbury and Le Labo. Regional exclusives include, Chantecaille and Guerlain’s premium L’Art & La Matière fragrances.
There are also five beauty treatment rooms, while services include brow shaping, lash extensions, facials, bespoke wedding scent consultations and fragrance bottle engraving.
Fenwick has been a presence in Newcastle since 1882, and the retailer remains one of the oldest founder family-owned businesses operating in the U.K. today.
Mia Fenwick, brand and marketing director, and a member of the founding family, has described the Newcastle store as “the heartland of our business.” She said the 40 million pound investment will enable Fenwick “to continue serving the city,” and its future generations.
Fenwick has intensified its focus on Newcastle and its seven regional stores across England since it ceased trading at its London Bond Street store in February.
As reported, Fenwick sold its Bond Street retail properties to Lazari Investments in 2022. The retailer had been trading on Bond for more than 130 years.
The Fenwick family and management said they sold the Bond properties to “strengthen the financial foundations for the future, and make significant investments in the stores and online for long-term success.”
Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed, industry sources said the Bond Street property portfolio sold for 430 million pounds.
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