Sephora to Shut Down Every U.S. Store For Diversity Training
If you try to swing by your local Sephora on Wednesday, June 5, you’ll be out of luck. The beauty chain announced that they plan to close all of its U.S. stores, distribution centers, and corporate offices for company-wide diversity training. The move comes after R&B singer SZA—a former Sephora employee—tweeted in April that she was racially profiled while shopping in the store’s Calabasas, California, location.
“Lmao Sandy Sephora location 614 Calabasas called security to make sure I wasn’t stealing . We had a long talk. U have a blessed day Sandy,” she tweeted. Sephora’s official Twitter handle responded with an apology: “You are a part of the Sephora family, and we are committed to ensuring every member of our community feels welcome and included at our stores.”
Along with the diversity training, Sephora has also launched a “Belong” initiative with a new tagline, “We Belong To Something Beautiful.”
In its new manifesto, Sephora declares that the company “believes in championing all beauty, living with courage, and standing fearlessly together to celebrate our differences.”
In a statement, CEO Deborah Yeh says that the company is committed to “continued innovation and action for the benefit of our clients, our communities, and our industry.” The diversity training is their first step toward honoring that commitment. “Through this, we’ll look to begin a dialogue with our 16K+ US employees about what inclusivity and values mean to Sephora,” Yeh said. “And we’ll plan to sustain this dialogue with future training moments for our fleet.”
Sephora isn’t the first major U.S. company to take these sorts of measures after a racial incident. Last year, Starbucks closed all of its American stores for a day of racial bias education after a video of two black men being arrested at a Philadelphia location went viral and drew criticism and accusations of racism.
“I’ve spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it,” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a statement at the time. “While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution. Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities.”