Sephora opens its first ACT store, crowds turn out for the beauty giant's Canberra Centre store opening

According to the beauty giant's Australia and New Zealand general manager Mark O'Keefe, it was a line that began at 2am, with Canberrans all keen to get their hands on what the store had to offer, as well as the goodie bag given to the first 500 people.

And it seems Sephora was just as excited to be in Canberra.

Mr O'Keefe said that the Canberra opening had been years in the making, with plans to open an ACT store put on hold due to COVID.

"Today we 'turn 21' - this is our 21st store in Australia, and we couldn't be more excited," he said.

"But we're really excited. We've been waiting for Canberra for a long time."

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The 307sqm Canberra Centre store boasts one of Sephora's largest in-store fragrance offerings as well as an assortment of exclusive brands including Rare Beauty, Fenty Beauty by Rhianna, Tarte cosmetics, Fresh Beauty and the brand's own private label Sephora Collection.

And as an exclusive first for Canberra, the store also stocks the new Sephora Collection Best Skin Ever Glow Foundation, before it's stocked in any other store.

But according to Mr O'Keefe, what drew people to Sephora was more than the products - although around two-thirds of what is available is only available at the beauty giant.

"People love the whole experience of shopping, they get such a great level of service and advice," he said.

"They get to discover products they've never seen before, and they go home happy. But it's much bigger than that. It's a community. We believe in the community of beauty and we help people become the best version of themselves.

"What they can expect is the best beauty service they've ever had. The most important thing is they're going to get help, they're going to get service to help them navigate the big range."

Thursday's opening kicked off with a bang, with a pre-party from 7am, complete with a live DJ, beauty stations, samples and merch. The big reveal itself was marked by a choreographed dance by the store's employees and pyrotechnics.

Those waiting in line were also kept happy with free coffee.

Canberra's Annie Burkart and Kerri Purtell arrived at Sephora at 5.15am to line up for the opening. Up until this point, the duo had to reserve their Sephora in-person shopping experience for when they were in Sydney.

"We're not entirely sure what we're going to get, but we'll probably be looking at grabbing both skincare and make-up," Ms Burkart said.

Sephora was founded in France by Dominique Mandonnaud in 1970, who had two requirements for the store. The first was to treat the customer as a VIP - and in the early days, the stores would have a red carpet entry to help do so. The second was the present lipsticks like jewels.

"If you do these two things, the customers will keep coming back," Mr O'Keefe said.

"Those first stores are still alive today. There's a massive store on the Champs-Élysées that gets more visitors than the Eiffel Tower."

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