Bath & Body Works will bring its new Feel Good concept store to Easton Town Center in Columbus in late October, the company announced on October 23. The Columbus location will be the second store in the new format, following the first Feel Good store, which opened today at SouthPark Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina. A third location is planned for November in Miami.
The Feel Good concept is part of the company’s Consumer First Formula, its plan for how stores present products and serve shoppers. According to the company, the format uses an open floorplan and clearer information about products and ingredients. It is designed to make testing products easier and to give shoppers more direct access to store associates for fragrance guidance.
The store includes several hands-on areas described by the company. An Eau de Parfum bar and a lip-and-blend station allow customers to try products, and demo sinks are included for testing as well. A digital Fragrance Finder quiz is available to help shoppers narrow their choices, and shoppable drawers are built into the layout.
Products in the store are organized by fragrance family rather than only by product type, with groupings that include Warm & Woodsy and Fruity & Bright. The curated assortment named by the company includes Champagne Toast, Warm Vanilla Sugar, Japanese Cherry Blossom, In the Stars, Fruit Fusion and Essentials. The design uses natural stone, custom tile and warm wood.
"Consumer First Formula starts with listening to consumers," said Maly Bernstein, the company’s chief commercial officer, in the announcement. Samantha Day, associate vice president of store design, also discussed the new format in the company’s release. The company said associate fragrance expertise is a central part of the concept, alongside the testing areas and product information.
Bath & Body Works reports more than 1,900 stores in the United States and Canada and more than 500 international locations. The Charlotte store that opened today is located at 4400 Sharon Road, Suite G35B, at SouthPark Mall. The Miami store planned for November will be at Palms at Town & Country.
For Columbus shoppers, the Easton store will offer the new layout and testing features at an existing major retail destination in the city. The company gave the address as 178 Easton Town Center, Columbus, Ohio, and said the opening will take place in late October. No specific opening date within late October was given in the announcement.
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