Sephora expands its outlet presence with five new leases at Tanger

Tanger’s’ strategic plan to re-curate its outlet centers with food-and-beverage brands such as Shake Shack and Cracker Barrel, and home goods names that include Williams Sonoma and Crate & Barrel, has registered a key win in the beauty sector.

The Greensboro, N.C.-based operator of nearly 40 outlet centers nationwide has signed a deal with Sephora to add five new Sephora locations to its portfolio, each averaging about 5,000 sq. ft. The new Sephora outposts are scheduled to open this year in Charleston, S.C.; Deer Park, N.Y.; National Harbor, Md.; Palm Beach, Fla.; and Phoenix/Glendale, Ariz.

Tanger currently has just one Sephora location in its portfolio, at the Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville, Ala.

“Sephora is going to bring to our centers an elevated and aspirational beauty experience that our consumers have been wanting for a long time,” said Tanger executive VP of leasing Justin Stein. “Health and beauty brands had been lacking in our curations, but it’s what our customers want. We have Ulta and Bath & Body works in 35 of our centers.”

Tanger has leased nearly 200,000 sq. ft of new-to-portfolio brands since January 2023, including other non-apparel and digitally native brands, in an effort to attract younger and more affluent shoppers to its centers. The company reports that more than 120 million guests visit Tanger's centers annually.

Stein says that filling available peripheral space at its centers with new uses has paid off with increased traffic—especially local traffic—at different hours of the day. Dave & Busters has taken spots at number of Tanger centers, and both national and local food and beverage brands are endeavoring into the outlet sector.

“Food-and-beverage and entertainment has become a really big focus for us,” Stein said. “At a ground-up center we built in Nashville, 20% of our GLA is dedicated to it. Best-in-class operators are something that’s very important to us. There we went with Red Bicycle Coffee, an amazing 11-store operation in the Nashville metro.”

Sephora is one of those best in class operators and will be introducing brands such as Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Hermes to Tanger shoppers.

“Sephora will bring an elevated and aspirational beauty experience to our centers,” he said. "We believe this will be a very successful partnership for both our companies as Sephora continues to expand its presence with Tanger."