This week, I checked in on how Violet Grey is looking to fill the void for premium beauty retail in new markets. Additionally, buyers are eyeing niche fragrance brand Parfums de Marly, and Maybelline is embracing ChatGPT as a discovery platform.
Why Violet Grey is opening its next stores in Dallas and Aspen
With the opening of its Upper East Side store in 2025, Violet Grey turned itself from a Los Angeles beauty mainstay to a bicoastal shopping destination. But for its next stage of growth, the specialty beauty retailer is moving beyond the coasts: Plans are underway to open a Violet Grey store in Dallas and Aspen.
Violet Grey aims to open the Dallas location by February and get Aspen up and running before Christmas. The new stores will join the premium beauty retailer’s existing shops on Melrose Place in Los Angeles, Palisades Village, New York City’s Madison Avenue and East Hampton.
“We see a pretty big gap in white space in the premium end of the market for the products we’re selling,” said Violet Grey CEO Sherif Guirgis, who joined founder Cassandra Grey to reacquire the business from Farfetch in 2024. “I expect in the markets maybe outside of L.A. and New York, there is a customer that is really discerning, and there’s a customer that probably is not being served in that sort of high-touch, high-service way.”
Dallas is home to a potent example of such a white space. In September, Neiman Marcus shuttered its historic flagship store in downtown Dallas after a century in business. The department store giant’s parent company, Saks Global, has been mired in bankruptcy proceedings for years. Meanwhile, competing chains like Nordstrom and Macy’s have revamped their New York stores in recent years to place renewed emphasis on beauty.
Guirgis believes Violet Grey’s smaller footprint gives it an edge in the beauty sphere, however; its Melrose Place and Madison Avenue stores are around just 1,000 square feet.
“In a category like this that is very personalized, very specialized, I think it’s hard to really carry everything and still make that experience not overwhelming. We just live in an era now where there’s unlimited access to brands, unlimited newness of brands, unlimited information,” said Guirgis. “Where can I get away from that overwhelming amount of noise where maybe only 5% of the SKUs in a store are actually applicable to me, and go into an environment where it’s like every single thing here has been meticulously picked and curated.”
In Dallas, Violet Grey will open up shop on Knox Street rather than the historic downtown, however. Under the development of the Summers Group and Gillon Property Group, the area is attracting a bevy of luxury and trendy storefronts like Toteme, Dôen and Alo Yoga. Those will be anchored by the opening of luxury hotel group Auberge Collection’s upcoming Dallas property, which is slated to begin renting out its $ 1,000-a-night rooms in late January.
“We’re definitely a draw. But especially when it’s a new market, it certainly helps that Sant Ambroeus is there, or Toteme or Khaite or any of these kinds of brands where we share a customer base,” he said. “It kind of gives the customer reason to get out of their house and spend time walking around and discover us. That is critical.”
In Aspen, the shopping territory is fairly well established with luxury fashion brands like Prada and Chanel already dotted through the small downtown. But Guirgis is betting that the seasonal getaway is evolving into more of a year-round shopping destination.
“People think of [Aspen] as a seasonal winter market, but by all accounts, the summer is actually even stronger from a shopping perspective,” said Guirgis. “These markets like Aspen and the Hamptons are becoming increasingly less purely seasonal as people spend more time there and see the benefits of getting out of their big city.”
Guirgis said Violet Grey is keeping stock of where else it already has a customer base when it comes to establishing new stores. But the growing e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailer also wants to apply the same exacting eye to its store fleet as to its curation of beauty products.
“We’re not trying to max out our theoretical store count,” said Guirgis. “I think we could 100x the size of this business, but actually lose value where people are like, ‘Oh, this is not as interesting as it was before.’ So we’re trying to strike that balance.”
Executive moves:
- Lady Gaga is named the CEO of Haus Labs. The pop star launched the makeup brand in 2019 as Haus Laboratories, before rebranding it in 2022. She succeeds Ben Jones, co-founder and CEO, whose LinkedIn states he left the company in October.
- Bath & Body Works names Catherine Dougherty as group vp of culture, social and partnerships, and Mary Gerzema as group vice president of paid media. Dougherty previously held roles at The Estée Lauder Companies, while Gerzema spent nearly a decade at Shiseido.
- LVMH exec Tricia Butler is elected The Fragrance Foundation’s new board chair. Butler is currently president of North America, Givenchy and Kenzo Parfums at LVMH Fragrance Brands. She succeeds Dsm-Firmenich global fine fragrance president Jerry Vittoria in the role.
News to know:
- CVC, Cinven and Puig are reportedly looking to buy French niche fragrance brand Parfums de Marly. Private equity firm Advent International acquired a majority stake in Parfums de Marly, as well as Initio Parfums Privés, in 2023
- Maybelline unveils a virtual make-up try-on tool integrated into ChatGPT. The L’Oréal-owned makeup brand will let consumers virtually try on makeup products through the Maybelline app, with links to physical and digital retailers directing consumers on where to purchase.
- Willy Chavarria launches a candle in collaboration with Mexican niche fragrance brand Xinú. The Mexican-American designer first worked with Xinú on his Spring-Summer 2027 runway show at Paris Men’s Fashion Week, where the venue was scented with the brand’s FlorDeMusgo scent. Xinú received a minority backing from Estée Lauder in 2025.
Stat of the week:
According to Kearney’s 2026 M&A in Beauty and Personal Care: Volume Over Scale and Value report, the number of transactions in the beauty and personal care sector hit a record 384 in 2025, an 8% increase from 2024. But the average value of those reported deals fell from $26 million to $22 million.
In the headlines:
The shocking rise of rib remodeling: “I wanted that hourglass shape.” Founders must have influence, too. Can Target’s new ‘Beauty Studio’ win back customers?
Listen in:
In today’s special crossover episode with Glossy’s sister publication Modern Retail, West Coast correspondent Lexy Lebsack joins Modern Retail senior reporter Gabi Barkho and Rachel Hirsch, founder and managing partner at Wellness Growth Ventures, to discuss the products and categories that should, and shouldn’t, be considered wellness in 2026.
Need a Glossy recap?
Can Intake turn optimized breathing into a wellness status symbol? Camino Partners is betting on it. Front Row bets on the continued K-beauty craze with the opening of a new office in Seoul. How Oribe uses annual holiday collaborations for brand-building and sales-driving.
