Mora Sephora in New York

The expansion in the U.S. of Sephora, the fast-growing French-based beauty chain, has become so rapid that it will be moving into a huge new New York store near Times Square, just a block from – and more than twice the size of – the existing Times Square store it moved into just a year ago.

The new 21,000-square-foot store will be on Broadway between 44th and 45th streets, and will mirror the flagship Paris store on the Champs Elysees. Like that store, it will be designed by French architect Gerard Barrau to give passersby a bird's-eye view of the entire store. It will also be on one level. The chain's Rockefeller Center store in New York, which is also roughly 21,000 square feet, is a multi-level space. The new store is expected to open in the spring of 2001.

Among the featured aspects of the store will be a ramped entrance and, just inside the entrance, two “gallery” spaces designed to feature global cultural exhibits. Also similar to the Sephora store in Paris, the Times Square store will offer a special selection of books and literature from different parts of the worldrelating to beauty and art. And, of course, the new store will continue Sephora's tradition of an “open sell” environment, one that is in the process of revolutionizing how U.S. department stores merchandise their cosmetics.

Sephora already operates 61 stores across the United States and has more than 200 in Europe. It has also recently opened its first stores in Japan – three in Tokyo and one in Osaka. The retailer is a unit of the Selective Distribution Group of Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.