Sephora’s founder bought the name, and 38 shops with it, from Britain’s Boots.
Dominique Mandonnaud ran a Limoges perfumery called Shop 8, where shoppers could try anything. In 1993 his chain paid Boots $61 million for its Sephora stores, then renamed itself after them. He had made his investors promise to sell before he turned 50, and when they sold to LVMH in 1997, he took up sculpture.
Sephora on Brandseum