Ulta CEO Kecia Steelman has announced that Ulta will pause its Target location expansions in 2025. The announcement was made at J.P. Morgan’s annual Retail Round Up Conference.

At the conference, Steelman said Ulta will keep its 610 Target stores this year but did not say if expansions will continue in 2026 or if improvements will be made to Ulta at Target locations.

In a recording of the conference, Steelman said,

“In joint partnership with Target, we’ve made the decision to really lean into the 600-plus stores that are open this next year and really look at how do we continue to drive efficiencies and leverage the learnings that we’ve had to really unlock value for both of us collectively together.”

Ulta opened 101 Ulta Beauty at Target locations in 2024. Since starting the partnership in 2020, these locations have helped draw attention to the retailer. 

The initial Target expansion came when Sephora made a deal with Kohl’s and increased competition between the two retailers. 

Steelman added, 

“We’ve taken a little bit of a pause in opening more stores, but that is really to just make sure that we’re working on all the things that we’ve learned over the last three years collectively together.”

Ulta reported a loss in market shares last year as sales fell 2% in Q4.

Since taking over as CEO, Steelman has moved to overhaul Ulta’s C-suite with a new Chief Marketing Officer and shifting current titles and responsibilities. 

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