According to the Ulta Beauty and Sephora US store directories as of September 2026, Sephora had 1,807 US locations versus 1,549 for Ulta, a lead of 258 stores.
Sephora is present in 48 of the 50 states, while Ulta is present in all 50. Across the 48 contiguous states, Sephora has more stores than Ulta in 30 states while Ulta leads in the other 18.
Sephora’s strongest lead is in New York, California, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Ulta is stronger across much of the South, including Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Florida is almost evenly matched, with 111 Ulta stores versus 106 Sephora locations.
But this extensive coverage of Sephora is dependent on its partnership with Kohl’s. Of Sephora’s 1,807 US locations, 1,136 are Sephora at Kohl’s stores or 63% of its total network.
Excluding Kohl’s, Sephora has 671 standalone stores giving Ulta a lead of 878 stores with more locations than Sephora in every contiguous state. Standalone Sephora would only have more stores in Washington, DC, where it has 5 locations versus 0 for Ulta.
Sephora has the broader total network, but its lead is largely created by its Kohl’s partnership. On a standalone basis, Ulta still has the deeper and more consistent US footprint.
