Ulta Beauty is Leaving Target Stores Across Minnesota, Here’s Why

A big announcement was made regarding a partnership that two major stores have had for a few years, which will be coming to an end. This partnership required quite a bit of construction at Target stores throughout Minnesota, and now it's going away.

Ulta Beauty and Target are ending their store-in-store partnership. There was a ton of construction inside Target stores since the partnership began in 2021, building these Ulta locations inside of Target stores. But now it's already going away.

ALSO READ: Study Ranks Minnesota Among the Top 10 Most Fun States

Are Ulta Locations Closing in Target?

This announcement came as a huge shock to me. There's no way it was cheap to recreate all of these Target stores to add an Ulta inside. And now, those Ulta's will be closing.

The closures won't happen until August of 2026, so we have a bit to still enjoy the convenience of Ulta being inside Target stores.

I'm just so confused by the decision. I feel like this would have been a big commitment to then pull out of in 5 years.

Get our free mobile app

Why Ulta is Leaving Target

There's an official statement from Target and Ulta about the decision, but there are also theories out there.

The statement says that the decision was mutual and that both stores want to focus on different avenues.

Ulta is launching their Ulta Beauty Marketplace later this year, which is "a curated online destination designed to engage new brands and audiences."

As for Target, they plan to continue "to curate a differentiated beauty assortment and new experience ... featuring a compelling lineup of essentials and unexpected finds, engaging product trial events, and a commitment to affordable prices."

The big theory I'm seeing, however, is that Ulta doesn't want to be associated with Target anymore due to their declining popularity.

Target's reputation is not in good standing, and as Stephen Hahn, chief reputation and strategy officer at corporate reputation management firm RepTrak, told Forbes, "'It’s highly likely that Target’s recent reputational challenges would have been an important factor in Ulta’s decision-making.'"

We'll likely never know if that's one of the big reasons behind Ulta closing their Target locations, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if that was true.