The History of Sephora

Sephora was founded in Limoges, France in 1969 by Dominique Mandonnauud. The first store opened in Paris in 1970 and the beauty chain steadily expanded from there. The name “Sephora” comes from the Greek word sephos (“beauty”) and the Greek spelling of the name Zipporah, the wife of Moses (Sepphora). The company was run by founder Mandonnauud until it was acquired by LVMH in 1997. In 1998, the first Sephora location in the U.S. opened at 555 Broadway in New York City. Sephora.com went live on October 14, 1999 and the first catalogue was published in 2000. In 2006, Sephora entered into a partnership with JC Penny that lasted many years; in 2020, Sephora and Kohl’s announced a similar partnership. Sephora is now headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France and has over 2,700 stores in 35 countries. Today, Sephora is known for a diverse offering of beloved beauty brands and is especially popular with younger consumers.