Dive Brief:
- Bath & Body Works opened its first Feel Good concept store in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday, according to information the company sent to Retail Dive.
- The new concept store is designed to make fragrance discovery easier.
- Two additional Feel Good stores will open this fall — one in Miami and the other in Columbus, Ohio.
Dive Insight:
The new Feel Good concept from Bath & Body Works is designed to encourage discovery and help shoppers engage with products in new ways.
Consumer feedback shaped the store format. Easy navigation, clear information about product ingredients and benefits and an enhanced testing experience were all included to make Feel Good a “more contemporary expression of the Bath & Body Works brand,” according to the company.
The Charlotte store will help the company better understand how shoppers are engaging with the brand and will inform how the company evolves the store experience, according to Maly Bernstein, chief commercial officer at Bath & Body Works.
The concept store reflects the retailer’s Consumer First Formula, which aims to drive sustainable, long-term growth.
A curated product assortment highlights the retailer’s signature fragrances, including Champagne Toast, Warm Vanilla Sugar and Japanese Cherry Blossom, among others. Fruit Fusion, a franchise launched with Hilary Duff in July, will also be part of the assortment.
The store also sports immersive testing stations and discovery zones for hands-on interactions, including an Eau de Parfum bar, a lip-and-blend station and sink stations for product exploration and demonstrations. The store also has a digital Fragrance Finder with a quiz to match shoppers to fragrance families and scent recommendations based on personal preferences, and shoppable drawers. Items are organized by fragrance family, including Warm & Woodsy and Fruity & Bright.
“The intent behind our Feel Good concept stores was to create an environment that feels warm, authentic and beautiful while making it easier and more enjoyable for consumers to shop,” Samantha Day, associate vice president of store design at Bath & Body Works, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the company has been working on updating many of its locations. This summer, the retailer announced that it was rolling out enhanced experiences to all of its stores in the U.S. and Canada.
CEO Daniel Heaf on an August call with analysts called 2026 “an investment year.”
In the company’s latest earnings net sales were down 2.3% year over year to $1.5 billion, while net income increased 84% to $118 million. Direct to consumer saw positive growth in Q2 for the first time since 2021.
“Returning Bath & Body Works to sustainable growth is a multiyear transformation,” Heaf said at the time.
