But Ulta, which has been adding brands launched first at Sephora like Rare Beauty, Sol de Janeiro and Ole Henriksen, doesn’t want to cede beauty brand-building skills entirely to its fierce rival, which won a battle with it for Rhode and has been a prominent stage for beauty stars like Summer Fridays, Phlur and Kayali. The Business of Fashion reported last month that CEO Kecia Steelman met with bankers and investors to discuss ways Ulta can improve its relationships with emerging brands.

It’s not as if Ulta hasn’t been trying. The chain has welcomed beauty’s up-and-comers through Sparked, a program for budding brands, since it launched in 2019, the same year Sephora introduced Next Big Thing, its gateway program for beauty upstarts. About-face, Divi, Vacation, Live Tinted and Love Wellness are among the brands that have entered Ulta via Sparked. Kulfi, Refy, Ceremonia, Violette_FR, Emi Jay and Facile are a few of the Sephora brands that are or have been a “next big thing.” Ulta and Sephora also run the accelerators MUSE and Accelerate, respectively, to prepare early-stage brands for big-time retail.

Ulta is assessing its approach to indie brands following a year of aggressive moves under Steelman. The company has reorganized its executive team, pushed into international territories like the United Kingdom, Mexico and the Middle East and launched an online marketplace to drive growth and defend against market share erosion to Amazon and others. The online marketplace is yet another bid for young brands, which can play in the digital environment and test customer receptivity without the high costs of in-store placement.

As Ulta attempts to better understand the forces that shape indie beauty success in its selection, we wondered whether the retailer can meaningfully strengthen its ties to indie beauty brands and bolster their sales performance. So, for the latest edition of our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we asked eight founders, consultants, growth specialists and retail experts the following questions: What should Ulta do to nurture relationships with indie brands? Could it ever be seen as a true brand builder or incubator?