I took part of the beautiful grand opening of the anticipated arrival of the ULTA store in
SouthPark Mall of San Antonio Texas. Locals like myself know this small mall has had its fair share of failing peddle, so to open a grand store like ULTA is pretty awesome. I've been a frequent shopper of this mall since I was a teenager, even perusing the mall with my mother as a small child. So to see a favorite store of mine pop right into 21 century ubiety is pretty fantastic to me, even as a woman in her
30's 20's :)
And just a side note, please excuse my grainy pictures, my only source of photography was my iPhone, this is due to not enough rest and forgetfulness :P
Upon my arrival on Friday, which was the 1st day of the opening I was #90 in line. First 100 customers for each day (Fri, Sat Sun) received a random amount gift card. I received a $5 gift card, 1 coupon for 1 free blowout hair service, 1 coupon for free styling hair service, 1 coupon for 1 free 20 minute skincare rejuve, and a coupon for 50% off haircut and style.
The First Impression!
- Everything looks neat and ready to go! Except not all shipments had arrived on time, so I'd say 5-10% of shelf homes were empty.
- Organization. This means that nail polish bottles were mixed/matched on the shelf probably due to missing bottle racks and shelf signs. I found one shelf that had a combination of China Glaze, Orly, Essie, and Butter all in one row.... But with due time I'm sure it'll all come together.
- Out of Stock. This is a big deal for shoppers. To go to a great sale and to find the item ran out or is out of stock is a real bummer. I understand stores have no way of dictating which products they receive in a shipment but if that were the case corporate ULTA should always make sure ULTA stores receive adequate stock for said sale items, or at least put a limit per customer.
- Layout. ULTA brand cosmetics along the same wall that customers have to stand in line. This might be okay during a lazy and slow day at Ulta but what happens when there are 15+ customers in line (like during this grand opening weekend) with customers trying to squeeze their way to shop for ULTA makeup?
- There is no award-winning Benefit, San Francisco, Cosmetics. From what the assistant manager mentioned is that the vendor mistakenly thought Benefit took abode in the across the hallway department store. Since the vendor didn't feel the need for close proximity of the brand they declined to have it in ULTA. So, no Benefit in the department store (there never was) and no Benefit in ULTA! But Roller Lash, Benefit's newest super curling mascara, did sneak its way onto ULTA shelves!
- They know their stuff. The most knowledgeable of any ULTA brand reps I've encountered. The rep I was speaking with about skincare was well acquainted with the brand I was interested in (Juice Beauty).
- NYX anyone? I know for a fact that ULTA carries one of the best NYX cosmetic collection in their stores so it was no surprise that NYX here had taken up nearly an entire aisle. The only downfall is the sale items ran out pretty quickly.
- Can I have a sample? Right after my purchase on Friday I noticed something - she didn't put any small samples in my bag. But why not?! It's the grand opening! And I was #90 in line!
A full service salon inside was clean and ready to fulfill customers tress wishes.
Here I am. 1st haircut and style in 6 years! The haircut was lovely, I asked for long layers and to fix the length on many layers because I cut them myself very often. The stylist chatted away with me and the other stylist and I relaxed my worries away.
Most Prestige brand cosmetics on the right
It brushes for ULTA
Mally Cosmetics
LIPSTICK QUEEN
Just one of the cologne or fragrance GWP deals.
Dermalogica skin bar
Disclosure: All items in the Hello Gorgeous picture were sent to me as gifts. All opinions are my own.
