American beauty retailer Ulta had announced earlier this year that it would be expanding into Canada. Us beauty lovers were super excited because anyone who had ever shopped at its stores knows that it houses not only drugstore faves, but high-end cosmetics, fragrances, skincare, haircare, and more. However, due to COVID-19 and the financial challenges it’s brought, the beauty company has put its Canadian expansion on the back burner for the time being.

According to The Globe & Mail, Ulta Beauty was supposed to be entering the Canadian market with its first store in late 2020 or early 2021.

Retail-Insider reports that Ulta Beauty was planning to expand with 75 more stores this year with several of those stores being located in Canada. Right now there are over 1,000 Ulta locations in the U.S. and most are situated in more suburban areas. Retail-Insider also reports that insiders revealed that Ulta was looking to operate in Canada in malls and other high-traffic areas.

When Ulta Beauty does eventually (and hopfully) expand into Canada, there will no doubt be some competition in the beauty world.

The company’s biggest competition in Canada is beauty conglomerate Sephora which has been experiencing mega success ever since it entered the Canadian market. Department store chains like Hudson’s Bay, Nordstrom, and even drugstore Shoppers Drug Mart will also likely be hit as well.

It’s no secret that COVID-19 is affecting businesses everywhere, even the big ones.

Because all non-essential businesses are closed for the time being and there’s no timeline as to when they’ll re-open, there could be a long-lasting financial impact for years to come even when COVID-19 is a distant memory. Here’s hoping that Ulta will be able to expand into Canada soon but until then, it’ll be a store worth crossing the border for. That is, when the borders are open!

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