Goop Beauty, the wellness-rooted brand founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, is entering a new phase as it rolls out across 800 Ulta Beauty stores nationwide on Sunday. With six products featured on Ulta’s “Brand New Skincare We Love” endcap, the brand is expanding in masstige retail after first launching online on Ulta.com in June.
“We’re off to a really strong start online on Ulta,” Paltrow told WWD, citing the $68 72-Hour Supercharged Hydrating Water Cream Moisturizer and the $38 Daily Detox Foaming Cleanser as early standouts with consumers. “I do like the challenge of trying to understand, who is the Ulta customer and what is she looking for, and what is her age, and how does she want to be spoken to?”
The expansion comes amid a larger recalibration at Goop. After reportedly laying off 18 percent of its 216-person workforce last year, the brand is now doubling down on beauty.
“It’s our biggest business. It’s our most profitable business,” Paltrow said, confirming that beauty is Goop’s top revenue and gross margin driver. “So much so that some board members along the way have been like, ‘Hey, do you guys really want to still be doing all this other stuff?’ But the answer for me, categorically, is yes.”
Beyond beauty, the lifestyle offering includes Goop Kitchen (coming to New York next year, Paltrow said), fashion via G. Label, wellness content and retail, with new brick-and-mortar stores in Aspen and Newport Beach. “We have a lot in the pipeline,” Paltrow continued. “We have a couple of fun announcements coming, one in August, one in September.”
A pioneer in bringing modern wellness into mainstream culture, Goop has a renewed focus on brand clarity, Paltrow added.
“I sort of pulled back this last year and really started focusing on brand,” she said. “I’ve done a ton of brand work this year…getting super clear about who we are, on paper.” While that work hasn’t been shared publicly yet, Paltrow said she’s energized to continue investing in storytelling and brand awareness.
Goop Beauty said second-quarter sales were up 21 percent year-over-year, with wholesale revenue increasing 73 percent year-over-year. Partners include Sephora, Credo and Amazon, among others. “We’re having a fun growth year,” Paltrow said of beauty.
Goop’s offerings stand out in the increasingly crowded “clean” beauty category through transparency and credibility, claimed Gina Lucania, Goop’s vice president of sales and marketing in wholesale. “What gets us in the door is the name, but the name doesn’t get us out the door. So that’s where the products really have to stand on their own,” she said, adding that performance-driven formulations sustain sales and long-term consumer trust.
“The younger generation is obsessed with results. And I think we really deliver on those things in a way that I don’t think many brands do,” Paltrow contended. “My beauty philosophy has always been to get the skin as beautiful as possible so that the woman feels as confident as possible.”
Lisa Tamburello, vice president of merchandising at Ulta Beauty, said Goop’s positioning fits the retailer’s Conscious Beauty strategy. “We’re thrilled to welcome Goop to our assortment,” she told WWD in a statement. “The brand’s clean intersection where beauty meets wellness perfectly complements our commitment to offering differentiated and Conscious Beauty choices, across skin care, body care and more.”
