ULTA Beauty has confirmed Dubai Mall as the location for its second UAE flagship store, marking a significant milestone in the beauty retailer’s Middle East expansion strategy. The beauty giant has also confirmed expansion into the Saudi market.
The Dubai Mall location will be the third store in ULTA’s initial Middle East rollout, following the inaugural opening at the Avenues in Kuwait and the first UAE store at Mall of the Emirates, set to open by the end of 2025.
In an exclusive interview with Arabian Business ahead of the launch, CEO Kecia Steelman revealed, “We have three stores that we have shared publicly, the first store being The Avenues in Kuwait, and the Mall of the Emirates and then Dubai Mall, three fantastic premium locations that only Alshaya could have brought us to market with.”
Kristin Wolf, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Strategy and New Growth confirmed, “While we are starting in Kuwait and in the Emirates, we will quickly be expanding to Saudi Arabia and then more broadly across the Gulf region as well.”
ULTA Middle East expansion
The Dubai Mall store is set to establish ULTA’s presence at one of the world’s most visited shopping destinations. With over 100 million annual visitors, Dubai Mall offers exposure to both residents and international tourists – a key demographic for beauty retail in the UAE.
“We are going to be rapidly growing at a pace here in the Middle East,” Steelman emphasised.
While the Mall of the Emirates store is scheduled to open by end of 2025, the Dubai Mall location timeline has not been officially announced. However, a 2026 opening is likely, aligned with ULTA’s broader GCC expansion strategy.
“We will be quickly expanding to Saudi Arabia, and then more broadly across the Gulf region as well,” Steelman confirmed during the interview.
Both locations will feature ULTA Beauty’s signature format combining mass and prestige beauty brands under one roof and the retailer’s exclusive ULTA Beauty collection.
The store will carry over 25,000 products across 80+ brands representing what Steelman calls a “localised, tailored assortment” that will include beauty brands from local and regional founders alongside international favourites.
“We are going to be able to have some localised, tailored assortments by the beauty brand and founders of the area, to have a concept inside the store that’s for them, by them,” she explained.
‘The largest beauty retailer in the world’
The beauty giant aims not only to bring brands to the Middle East but also to provide growth avenues for regional brands into western markets, establishing a synergy among over 1,500 stores globally.
“My focus as the CEO of ULTA Beauty is that there’s opportunities to not just bring US brands to lie here but also to bring some of the brands that are curated here in the Middle East to the United States and have that globalisation of beauty,” Steelman said.
The Dubai Mall location and further GCC expansion forms part of ULTA’s broader vision to what Steelman described as, “the largest beauty retailer in the world.” With 1,500 stores currently in the US market, the company sees potential to reach 1,800 American location while simultaneously building its international footprint.
“We think we can go to 1,800 [stores] but we really do feel that there’s a global footprint for us to be one of the largest, if not the largest, beauty retailer in the world,” she ambitiously stated.
The Middle East expansion through Alshaya group represents a franchise model thatULTA plans to replicate in other markets.
“I do not want to have partnerships with tons and tons of people out there. I want to pick strategic players that can take us into more than one country,” Steelman said. “We’re looking at who we’re partnering with from a strategic viewpoint, it’s through partners that have had great experience even outside of the country alone.”
For Steelman, the vision is clear, “You’re already beautiful when you come in [to the store]. It’s just our role and our responsibility to help you feel like the best version of yourself,” she concluded.
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