PURESEOUL opens at Bullring amid boost in heath and beauty sales

Korean beauty brand PURESEOUL has opened at Hammerson’s Bullring & Grand Central in Birmingham, as the scheme sees a boost in health and beauty sales.

The retailer has made its Midlands debut, opening only its second store outside of London on Bullring’s middle level. The 800 sq ft unit stocks over 900 different products across make-up, skincare, and haircare, and offers personalised skincare advice from staff specialising in Korean beauty.

The opening comes as health and beauty transactions at Bullring & Grand Central have jumped by 26% year-on-year. In July alone, sales in the category increased by 69% compared to the same period in 2023, making it the best performing category at the scheme. This comes as other health and beauty brands at the centre such as Rituals, Jo Malone, and L’Occitane invested in new cosmetic lines and customers purchased more self-care products.

Katy Letch, head of leasing UK at Hammerson, said: “From the all-encompassing luxury experience at Selfridges, premium wellness brands Kiehl’s and L’Occitane, to household names such as Boots and MAC, Bullring & Grand Central is the home of health and beauty in Birmingham. Customer appetite for beauty and wellbeing products reflects the demand we are seeing from premium brands including PURESEOUL, Rituals and Sephora for quality and well-connected city centre destinations.”

Leslie Tang, CEO of PURESEOUL, added: “Bullring & Grand Central has a reputation as a destination for regional firsts and experience-driven curation of brands. It is this combination that makes it the ideal location for our first-ever Midlands store and second outside of London. Expanding the PURESEOUL brand into the Midlands has been a key priority for the business, especially given Birmingham is our second biggest market in the UK, and we are pleased to welcome our K-beauty lovers in the region to our brand-new experiential space.”

PURESEOUL’s arrival forms part of the repositioning of Bullring to strengthen and diversify the brand mix. This has seen the opening of the first Nike Rise in the Midlands, regional debuts for Pull&Bear and Bershka, and the introduction of leisure concepts TOCA Social, Lane7 and Sandbox VR. In November, Sephora will make its regional debut at the scheme, adding to the beauty offering.