Take 13,000 square-feet of space, an annual rent price of 4.5 million and a gaggle of anxious fully made up girls and what do you get? Why, it's Sephora Times Square, and it finally grand opened this morning. We had the opportunity to scope it out last night during the US launch of the "By Lauren Luke" collection—more on that later.
This mammoth store at 7th and 43rd Street is the second Sephora to open this week; JC Penney boasts another full-size Sephora at their new Manhattan Mall location. The Times Square one, however, being the flagship and all, has a few tricks up its sleeve to get those tourist dollars.
In addition to the usual Sephora trademarks—fully-stocked makeup application and removal stations, a check-out line full of all-too-tempting impulse buy tidbits and all the cosmetic testers of your dreams—this specific store will also be the only one to debut the "by Lauren Luke" collection, Illamasqua line, and the airbrush makeup kit Temptu. Not to mention that their perfume testers are all displayed on a giant rotating, LED-backlit cake display sculpture; you don't see that in your run-of-the-mill mall store.
As with any major store opening bonanza, expect random guest appearances (we're hearing Gossip Girl Taylor Momsen tonight), and tons of makeup demonstrations. Even better are the Guinness World Record events—stop by between 3-4pm as Sephora attempts to break the world record for most cosmetic makeovers by a team of five in one hour, or anytime before 5pm today to try and set the world record for most lipstick applications in one hour. Sounds sanitary.
