Shopping

Cult beauty retailer Sephora announces second Manchester store

It's opening this summer.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 12th February 2025

Lovers of make-up, skincare, haircare and all things beauty, rejoice – Sephora has just announced details of a SECOND Manchester store.

Set to open this summer, the new Sephora will open at Manchester Arndale, hot off the heels of last year’s Northern debut at the Trafford Centre.

Sephora’s arrival in Manchester last year triggered huge queues of shoppers eager to browse the retailer’s collection of exclusive, viral and classic beauty products.

This will be the 10th UK store for the brand, with more to come in Sheffield and Liverpool in 2025.

Inside Sephora, shoppers are able to browse in-person for brands that are often hard to come by in the UK, including exclusive-to-Sephora brands like Makeup by Mario, Haus Labs by Lady Gaga, and Topicals, plus Glossier and Selena Gomez’s Rare beauty.

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The store is also famed for its huge selection of ‘minis’, allowing beauty enthusiasts to try out the hottest products on the market for less.

Sephora has announced a second store in the Manchester Arndale. Credit: The Manc Group
Sephora has announced a second store in the Manchester Arndale. Credit: The Manc Group
Sephora has announced a second store in the Manchester Arndale. Credit: The Manc Group
Sephora has announced a second store in the Manchester Arndale. Credit: The Manc Group

There’ll be a Beauty Hub in store, offering full glam, facials, hair styling, and brows by Benefit Cosmetics.

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Sarah Boyd, Managing Director, Sephora UK, said: “Manchester showed us phenomenal support when we opened our first store in the region, which blew away all our expectations.

“We are thrilled bringing a second beauty playground to our customers in this vibrant and culturally rich city, allowing us to reach even more shoppers with a city centre location at Arndale.

“We already know there is strong appetite from beauty enthusiasts in Manchester as we saw over 2000 eager customers queue on our opening day last year, and we look forward to recreating the same energy
at Arndale and to continue providing an unparalleled beauty experience like no other.”

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Read more: Five Manchester bars have just been named in the UK’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars

Featured image: Supplied

Shopping

Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard prices giving shoppers even cheaper offers

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Tesco has started trialling personalised Clubcard offers which give customers tailored prices based on their purchases.

The supermarket‘s Clubcard loyalty scheme has more than 20 million people signed-up nationwide, making it one of the most popular of its kind on the market, by far – but over the coming weeks, prices could begin to get cheaper for some than they already are as part of the new ‘Your Clubcard Prices’ scheme being trialled.

The scheme, which is being launched nationwide to a select group of people, will see shoppers sent new personalised offers every Wednesday, on top of all other existing deals.

These will be sent via the Tesco Clubcard app, and added automatically at the checkout. 

Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard prices giving shoppers even cheaper offers / Credit: The Manc Group

At this moment in time, it’s believed to be unclear how many people are a part of the trial, and also how long the trial will last for.

What we do know, however, is that customers will be able to use their personalised offers multiple times for a total of seven days in larger Tesco stores, but at present, they unfortunately can’t be used in Express locations.

“We are constantly looking for ways to make Clubcard work harder for our customers,” a Tesco spokesperson explained.

Tesco to make Clubcard prices ‘clearer’ in stores following watchdog advice

 “We are currently offering Your Clubcard Prices to a trial group of our Clubcard members, giving them offers on products they regularly buy at Tesco, in addition to the thousands of Clubcard Prices available to all Clubcard members each week.”

The news that Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard offers comes after the retailer was advised by leading consumer watchdog, Which?, last February to make prices clearer for customers.

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It also comes after the UK’s cheapest supermarket of 2024 has was revealed.

Featured Image – Tesco

Shopping

New survey reveals one in three shoppers admits to stealing at self-checkouts

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Almost 40% of UK shoppers have failed to scan at least one item when using self-checkouts, new research has revealed.

Self-checkouts started to become popular in the UK in the 1990s, and since then have evolved to meet consumer demands and solve the problem of queueing, especially taking on a life of their own in supermarkets from the 2010s onwards… but now, some exclusive new research for The Grocer has revealed that could be causing more hassle than they’re worth.

A national survey of more than 1,000 shoppers found that only 63% said they ‘never’ failed to scan an item when using self-checkouts, which leaves almost two in five who do so at least occasionally.

A third (32%) also admitted to having weighed loose items incorrectly, while 38% said they had put through an incorrect loose item.

Experts say these statistics show that “a new breed of shoplifter” has been created.

A new survey has revealed that one in three shoppers admits to stealing at self-checkouts / Credit: Aldi

“You’re creating opportunities for people who otherwise wouldn’t even think about shoplifting,” commented Matt Hopkins, who is an associate professor in criminology at the University of Leicester,

When it comes to the biggest culprits of failing to scan items at self-checkouts, the survey revealed that the under 35 age group, and men overall, came out as the most common, but it’s unclear whether this could be blamed on system error, missing barcodes, or rushing shoppers, instead of being intentional.

Surprisingly though, despite public perception and a recent headline-grabbing move by supermarket chain Booths to remove self-service checkouts from all but a select few of its busiest stores, this new research also shows that shoppers actually prefer to use self-checkouts (54.2%), over staffed checkouts (29.8%).

“In a short space of time, the self-checkout option has gone from zero to an accepted norm – and now to an active preference for many,” commented Lucia Juliano, the UK head of research and client success at Harris Interactive.

Booths becomes first UK supermarket to strip self-service checkouts from stores

The speed and relative freedom provided by self-checkouts were the main advantages of using them, according to shoppers, with 56% choosing to use them because they’re faster.

52% cited the fact that self-checkouts allow them to ‘go at [their] own pace’.

Juliano did, however, comment that shoppers’ preference for self-checkouts may only be a reality “when there are no tech issues during the transaction”, which is said to be the “biggest bugbear by far” according to the survey.

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“Retailers need to ensure the tech is spotless, the space is ample and staff are quick to intervene when needed,” Juliano concluded.

Featured Image – Ben Stevens / Parsons Media (via Tesco)

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