At the risk of dating himself, environmental psychologist Paco Underhill remembers having a front-row seat to the glory days of Sephora, when the LVMH-owned brand opened its gleaming, groundbreaking crown jewel on the Champs Élysées in Paris in 1997. Just a few years later, the buzzy retailer would unveil its wellness-based White concept, also in Paris, and Underhill was there for that, too.As the founder of market research firm and consultancy Envirosell, and author of multiple books that explore the concept of purchasing behavior, including the best-selling Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, Underhill says he was initially impressed at the way Sephora introduced feature after feature designed to successfully lure prestige beauty-besotted customers.Flashforward to 2025 and Underhill is feeling markedly different about Sephora, at least the US arm of its operation. As the retailer plows ahead on an ambitious redesign of its 700 North American stores, Underhill believes that what originally made Sephora so compelling— namely its deep French, luxury roots and heavy buy-in from senior management—is missing across the pond. “I think one of the challenges Sephora has had here in the US is that we have no center,” Underhill notes. “Everything that’s important in France happens in Paris. Everything that’s important in Britain happens in London. And management gets to see and experience it.” Although residents of New York and LA might claim epicenter status, from a retail perspective, the Call of the Mall author isn’t buying it.“Often innovative retail here in the US happens regionally rather than nationally,” Underhill says.