Retail and beauty aisles are getting an upgrade as consumers are thinking less about “normal beauty” offerings and more about how store experiences and services make them feel.

Galeries Lafayette opened a 32,290 square foot wellness department in July, complete with aligned wellness products, a restaurant and even a gym. Located at its Boulevard Haussman flagship, La Wellness Galerie includes a sport and relaxation subsection, a skin care and treatment section, and a broader wellbeing section. General manager Alexandre Liot told WWD that Galerie’s goal was to “offer services that are for the body, mind and well-being,” and explained that “the idea was also to democratize wellness today.”

A shelving display of products under a FEEL GOOD BAR sign, shelves arranged under signs: skin health, skin health, immunity, gut health, fitness. A rounded countertop with a FEEL GOOD BAR sign to the right of the shelving display, stairs in foreground.
The Feel Good Bar at Selfridges

Selfridges is introducing a wellness counter pop up at its Corner Shop storefront this month. In a permanent installation, the department store is also launching the Feel Good Bar, which will host services for wellbeing including acupuncture sessions, hypnotherapy, sleep aids and innovative, updated product offerings and will offer IV drips, bio-hacking and hyperbaric oxygen therapies this fall. The launch comes as Selfridge’s also transforms its cinema into a sleep session area, where customers can rest during their shopping excursions.

Image of a tent display with fogged glass and a sign that reads ‘PRICC’ on top, a curtain pushed to the side, and two fair skinned women talking across a massage bed.
The Feel Good Bar at Selfridges

In January, Saks.com launched an e-wellness shop with over 600 products ranging from vibrators and jump ropes to sleep machines and Vitamix blenders, separated into five dedicated subcategories: health and nutrition, rest and relaxation, sexual wellness, and men’s and women’s fitness. “One of the things that we saw as a big opportunity was to take wellness beyond just identifying beauty products as wellness products and look to develop a more robust offering,” Kate Oldham, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of beauty, jewelry and home at Saks Fifth Avenue told WWD.

Two men wearing workout clothing and sneakers, kneeling on one knee next to each other with arms outstretched. Backdrop reads "Obé" and "Bloomingdale's"
An Obé fitness class, courtesy of Bloomingdale's

Bloomingdale's also kicked off a wellness incentive in January with a new partnership with Obé fitness. The launch includes a content series of digital fitness events produced by Obé and hosted on Bloomingdale’s “On Screen” events, bridging entertainment and physical wellness into what the fitness brand calls “enter-trainment.”

“There has been, over the last years, this massive shift in interest in health, well-being, wellness,” Wendy Liebmann, founder and chief executive officer of WSL Strategic Retail, told WWD in a recent feature. From beauty to luxury offerings, department stores are embracing a new thirst for wellness offerings, transforming their floors into holistic wellness product and service destinations.

Main image of the Feel Good Bar at Selfridges, courtesy of Selfridges.

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