Franchising, retail, business
02/11/2015
Sephora plans to open several shops in Iran starting next year, becoming one of the first major European specialist cosmetics retailers to directly invest in the country as it emerges from years of economic sanctions.
Sephora, part of luxury industry leader LVMH, operating around 2,000 outlets worldwide, is keen to build its presence in Iran. With a population of nearly 80 million, Iran is the Middle East’s second biggest market for beauty products after Saudi Arabia with annual sales reaching more than 3.5 billion euros($3.86 billion) in 2014, according to market research company Euromonitor.
And the beauty and personal care market is expected to nearly treble in the next five years to more than 10 billion euros, Euromonitor forecasts.