Why is Glossier closing stores to chase Gen Z?

When Glossier first launched in 2014, among a crowd of other DTC-native standout brands like Allbirds and Warby Parker, it took the industry by storm with its “your-skin-but-better” approach to product formulation and its hero product, the “You” fragrance flanker.

By 2021, the brand had reached a valuation of $1.8 billion and, by late 2024, had opened 12 brick-and-mortar stores worldwide in metropolitan cities like New York City and London.

However, in recent years, Glossier has been struggling to maintain the same sparkle that first attracted the millennial consumer to it, let alone attract the younger Gen Z consumer.

Recently, the brand’s new CEO, Colin Walsh, announced that, in a bid to help Glossier start afresh, the brand would close nine of its 12 stores over the next two and a half years, leaving just three flagships in New York City, Los Angeles, and London.

These original locations currently drive approximately 55 per cent of store revenue and 60 per cent of new customers. In addition, the brand would also focus on its hero products, like the Cloud Paint blush, Boy Brow eyebrow gel, and, of course, its perfume flankers, especially the original “You” version.

How Glossier is focusing on fragrance

“You” and its follow-up flankers, like “You Doux” and “You Fleur”, are a major sales driver for the brand. Currently, they account for nearly 40 per cent of annual sales, amounting to about $90 million.

Walsh is clearly trying to tap into the power of fragrance, a steadily successful category in the North American beauty sector, with the brand’s recently launched marketing campaign, “You Smell Good”, the brand’s first for the product in four years.

The campaign concept is centred around the idea that scent is supposed to help the wearer smell more like themselves, the olfactory version of your-skin-but-better, versus cloaking their original scent in perfume.

According to Walsh, Glossier fragrance sales have been growing by double digits since the marketing campaign began, and this promotional plan is set to last through the end of the year.

Glossier is also gearing up to launch a new flanker dubbed “You Soie”. Compared to “You” ’s millennial pink packaging, “You Soie” is in a deep navy and light blue component and focuses on notes like jasmine, bergamot and ambrox.

Walsh communicated that instead of launching one SKU after another, which the brand had been doing at a rate of one new product every four to six weeks in 2023, the brand is focused on getting back down to the basics of what attracted consumers to the brand in the first place.

Experts discuss whether Glossier can pull off a glow-up

Currently, experts are divided on whether this back-to-basics approach will help Glossier glow up and attract younger Gen Z consumers, or will simply save the brand from drowning entirely.

As Naomi Omamuli Emiko, founder and owner of TNGE, a marketing agency and growth studio built to accelerate beauty and wellness brands, told Inside Retail, “Rationalising retail and focusing on hero products are smart moves for profitability, but they don’t solve the core problem: the brand no longer feels like it’s leading the conversation.”

While these decisions can make the business financially healthier, they won’t make it magnetic. “Magnetism comes from a point of view that is both distinct and directional. The opportunity now is to rebuild that leadership by being more selective and more opinionated – creating products and experiences that feel like they couldn’t come from anyone else.

“The next chapter for Glossier shouldn’t be about recapturing past success – it should be about reasserting creative leadership. That means establishing a new aesthetic, a new language and a clear set of priorities that consumers can rally around.”

Kimber Maderazzo, professor of marketing at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School and a beauty industry expert, argued that Glossier’s new flanker is less about sales and more of a sign of exciting times ahead for the brand.

“New product launches are less about incremental sales and more about signalling relevance,” she said. “A flanker allows Glossier to leverage its existing equity while re-entering the cultural conversation in a meaningful way, especially as fragrance and sensorial categories continue to gain momentum.”

Glossier’s focus, she added, should also be on defining a fresher, more distinct brand narrative for both its OG audience, millennials, and new-wave consumers, Gen Zers. “Millennials and Gen Z approach beauty very differently; this is where the real strategic tension sits.”

Millennials tend to value curation, simplicity, and brand storytelling by editing down routines and creating a very specific aesthetic and community-driven narrative. Whereas Gen Z is far more experimental, ingredient-aware and trend-fluid. They move quickly, expect constant newness and are much less loyal to a single brand identity.

“For a brand like Glossier, the challenge is not to abandon its millennial base, but to expand its relevance,” said Maderazzo.

How Glossier can tap into nostalgia to regain relevance in today’s beauty market

Kriti Mira Adhikari, a senior cultural strategist at Sparks & Honey, a cultural intelligence and foresight consultancy firm, argued that Glossier’s best play to win over Gen Zers is to lean into the traits and products that caught millennial consumers’ attention over a decade ago.

Adhikari referenced the current social media trend in which millennials look back, with fondness or bewildered amusement, at photos comparing their 2026 selves to their 2016 selves.

2016 is often referred to as one of the original eras of influencer marketing and culture, heavily defined by YouTube beauty tutorials and helping establish many of the brands that are still relevant today.

“It’s never too late for a brand to make a comeback, and Glossier has a huge opportunity to authentically tap into the nostalgia around 2016, whether through winning back its original customers or reaching younger consumers who want to recreate the makeup looks and overall feeling of that time period,” said Adhikari.

She pointed out that Glossier turned displeasure over the reformulation of Balm Dot Calm into a moment of celebration when the brand brought back the original formula and launched a low-key campaign centred on it. Leaning into community feedback on the new formulation, including negative sentiment on the r/glossier Reddit page, Glossier’s reintroduction of the formula reignited product interest and showcased how the brand listens to its customers.

“If I were at the brand, I would create something like a ‘comeback tour’ for their OG iconic products like Boy Brow and Cheek Paint – much in the same way that Mac Cosmetics created nostalgia for 90’s concealer lips or how Clinique has created heritage storytelling around [its hero SKU] Black Honey.”

Adhikari compared Glossier to its 2026 counterpart, Rhode, as an example of how the brand can reel back in the “Glossier-mania” it once curated back in 2014.

Rhode has drawn relevance with a variety of tactics, from celebrity campaigns, most recently featuring actress Sarah Pidgeon, who stars in the FX series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, to long lines for pop-ups, into an enjoyable brand experience with complimentary product sampling and snacks.

If Glossier can recreate the same sense of magic and enjoyment with its remaining flagships and newer product launches by leaning into pop-culture moments and connecting Gen Zers to their admiration of millennials, then the brand should be able to start a successful new phase.

Further reading: Inside Sukoshi Mart’s plan to launch 40 stores in the US by the end of 2026

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