PARIS — Lancôme, the prestige beauty brand owned by L’Oréal, announced Thursday that it is set to open up to three “beauty studios” in Sofitel hotels worldwide, starting with a branch in Los Angeles during the first half of 2006. It is the first time Lancôme will be present in this channel.
Under the new partnership deal with the Accor hotel group, Lancôme’s high-tech treatment rooms are to be opened inside LeSpa, a new spa facility created by Accor’s Thalassa division.
The tie-in with Accor is part of Lancôme’s global strategy to open doors featuring treatment rooms. It was kicked off with the refurbishing of its Faubourg Saint-Honore beauty institute in Paris last November. Lancôme plans to open another 15 such “beauty concept” stores by the end of next year.
Lancôme boasts 12,000 doors in Europe and 18,000 worldwide.