Color cosmetics brand Absolute New York to open first US retail store

Launched in 2013, Absolute New York is the second makeup brand founded by John Kim and Beronicka Kim. Their first beauty industry venture Nicka K New York has been around since 1995.

Absolute New York has its headquarters in Port Washington, New York, and sells its branded color cosmetics, brushes, accessories, skin care and more on its own ecommerce site, in US stores like Walgreens and CVS, as well as in Absolute New York stores abroad.

Now, according to an item by Lauren Elkies Schram on commercialobserver.com​, Absolute New York has leased number 128 West 34th Street, a five-story building across the street from Macy’s that is perhaps best known as the A.S. Beck building.

Beauty retail​

As the retail footprint of specialty beauty stores like Ulta, Sephora, and Bluemecury grows, more and more branded boutiques and pop-up shops are opening around the city too. Pharmacy chains, apparel stores, and even convenience shops like 7-Eleven​ are upping the shelf space they give to beauty. It’s a trend that’s been mounting for some time now. (Read ‘Commercial real estate industry sees a big opportunity in cosmetics’ on Cosmetics Design.​)  And it appears that high-touch service ventures and experiential retail is winning out in beauty.

It’s in this environment that Absolute New York will open a flagship store. “This was a win-win deal for both sides,” ​Jeffrey Roseman of the brokerage firm Newmark Knight Frank Retail, told Schram. “The tenant gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to open a store in the shadow of the greatest department store in the world, and the landlord gets a stable tenant in an evolving retail climate.”​

As Schram reports, Absolute New York, “has leased the entire five-story, 10,000-square-foot building between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, but only plans to retail on the 2,200-square-foot ground floor.”​

Additional locations around the city will open in 2018 as well, according to realtors involved with Absolute New York.

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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.