Target plans to replace Ulta shop-in-shops in 600+ stores with its in-house Beauty Studio

Target is preparing to make a major change to the way it sells beauty products in stores. In an announcement reported by USA Today, the company said it will replace Ulta shop-in-shops with its in-house Beauty Studio in more than 600 stores.

A shop-in-shop is a dedicated, branded retail area inside a larger department store. In this case, that would mean Ulta’s branded beauty retail spaces are being phased out in favor of a Target-controlled beauty format.

Target’s Beauty Studio is the company’s internal alternative, designed to give it more control over the beauty environment it presents to customers. By shifting from an external partner format to its own concept, Target is effectively repositioning how beauty discovery, assortment, and merchandising are executed in its stores.

While the report indicates the replacement effort will cover 600+ stores, it does not provide additional operational details in the information available here. The company did not disclose, in the cited report, a timeline for store conversions, the expected pace of rollouts, or whether any store-level variations are planned by region or format.

The retail category context is straightforward: beauty is a high-frequency shopping segment where customers often expect a curated selection and an easy-to-browse layout. Moving to an in-house concept can be a way for retailers to align product assortment and promotional messaging more tightly with their broader merchandising strategy, rather than with a partner’s format.

Target’s move also highlights the competitive pressure in beauty retail. Ulta and other specialty players bring brand depth and category focus, but shop-in-shop arrangements allow larger chains to capture some of that traffic without fully operating a beauty store. A transition to an internal format suggests Target believes it can build that category experience directly in its locations.

What remains unclear from the published report is how Target plans to address the Ulta customer appeal that came from the previous shop-in-shop setup. The disclosure available here does not describe whether any specific brand relationships, product availability, or loyalty programs associated with the prior format will change, or how Target will manage customer expectations during the switch.

Investors and store shoppers will likely watch for follow-up disclosures tied to execution. That includes conversion timing, whether sales trends in beauty accelerate or soften after the change, and whether the retailer expands the Beauty Studio concept beyond the initially targeted 600-plus stores.