Ulta’s sales up 7.9% for 7 wks.
For the holiday period, Ulta had $262 million in sales, a 7.9 percent gain in comp store sales. The company upped its forecasts for the quarter as well.
Ulta gained because more consumers traded down in beauty. The Limited’s Bath & Body Works also had sales increases in December, altering its product mix to less expensive personal care items. BBW is primarily in regional malls, which did not have the traffic flow that Ulta had in power centers.
Lyn Kirby, Ulta CEO, said “The combination of dynamic marketing, compelling offerings and enticing value drove an 8.8 percent in customer traffic.” While we are not certain how Kirby got to count traffic increases, she deserves to gush over that performance.