Feature

From Zero to Fully Operational in 20 Weeks: Sephora U.S.A. Celebrates with Ribbon-Cutting

Monday’s ribbon-cutting event at Sephora U.S.A.’s new, 312,000 square-foot western distribution center, 6075 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City, celebrated the culmination of a year-and-half long courtship between the beauty products giant and the Beehive State.

“It is certainly a big cause for celebration in the city,” says Bob Farrington, Salt Lake City’s economic development director. “It represents 120 current jobs, significant expansion to 500 jobs, and it’s a great connection to have since Sephora is a French-owned, international company and we now have direct flights from Salt Lake City to Paris. Utah-based companies are able to take advantage of our many domestic connections and increasing international connections.”

The list of dignitaries on hand for the event included Sephora U.S.A. CEO David Suliteanu, Patrick Murray, Sephora U.S.A.’s senior vice president and CFO, Martin Flaherty, Sephora U.S.A.’s vice president of logistics, Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman and First Lady Mary Kaye Huntsman, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, Jason Perry, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), Bhaskar Ragula, chair of the GOED Board, Jeff Edwards, president and CEO of EDCUtah, Deedee Coradini, former mayor of Salt Lake City and member of EDCUtah's Board of Trustees, Bob Farrington, and Farmington City Mayor Scott Harbertson.

“This is a huge win for Utah,” says Edwards. “Sephora is a wonderful corporate citizen and we look forward to a long, prosperous relationship.”

During the ribbon-cutting event, Flaherty announced Sephora will make a donation to First Lady Huntsman’s “Power in You” charity.

“It is part of Sephora’s culture to give back to the communities we serve,” he says. “When we learned that First Lady Huntsman is a champion of the Power in You charity, we saw it as an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the community.”

Flaherty says Sephora takes its corporate citizenship seriously and the company intends to be involved in the local educational community, working with the community colleges and local high schools in particular. Sephora offers fantastic tuition reimbursement benefits and advancement programs. In fact, the company has already purchased season tickets to University of Utah athletic events and will provide them to its distribution center associates.

During the site selection process, Sephora looked seriously at 14 geographical locations such as New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Colorado and California. Flaherty says Utah had it all together: collaborative government and business leadership, a great transportation system, close proximity to the Salt Lake International Airport, the availability of a quality labor force, lower costs of doing business, a vibrant city center, quality of life and a beautiful, scenic environment.

“But it was the work of Governor Huntsman, EDCUtah and Mayor Becker that cinched the deal for us,” he adds. “We were under a tight deadline and would have been in serious straits if we had not been able to make our new distribution center operational by July 7. Utah’s leadership promised to work energetically to expedite the permitting process and get us plugged in to the electric grid—that was the type of partnership we were looking for. We couldn’t be happier with the degree of assistance and support we received.”

Samantha Mary Julian, EDCUtah’s business development manager and Sephora project lead, says Sephora took the building from an empty shell to a fully functioning distribution center in 20 weeks, which is an amazing feat. The facility is now taking the pressure off the company’s East Coast distribution center in Maryland and helping ramp up for the holiday season. As a result, patrons of Sephora beauty products west of the Mississippi can experience more rapid service as well as more efficient and cost-effective transportation. Sephora's new facility will also provide a disaster recovery option for the company and ensure that its supply is seamless during critical times. Julian adds that the company is environmentally conscious and implemented green lighting, sound reduction practices and temperature control methods to the distribution center during its build-out.

Sephora clients are not the only ones to benefit from the new distribution center. The company hired approximately 120 local employees and Julian says another 130 or so will be working there by year-end. Flaherty says Sephora will add e-commerce fulfillment to the distribution center next year and expand its operations by another 250 jobs. What’s more, the company is moving approximately 80 back-office jobs to Utah from its corporate headquarters in San Francisco.

“We love Salt Lake City and Utah. Everyone on my team raves about the place and the people. Some have already relocated to Utah,” Flaherty says. “I want to express my appreciation and gratitude to the many people in Salt Lake City and especially to EDCUtah, for helping facilitate our move. We are quite please to be part of this vibrant and wonderful city.”

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