Priceline stores in doubt as Wesfarmers launches competing beauty chain
The future of many Priceline stores appears in doubt after owner Wesfarmers revealed plans for a new chain of beauty and wellness outlets.
Wesfarmers, which also owns Bunnings and Kmart, launched its first Atomica concept store in Sydney’s Castle Towers shopping centre late last year.
The store, which stocks a range of cosmetic and beauty items, is situated on the site of a former Priceline store.
On Thursday, it was revealed that the Wesfarmers Health division had contracted strategic brand and design agency, Houston Group, to help devise the new store, with a view to launching a new chain.
Wesfarmers Health’s head of marketing, Corrina Brazel, said the company saw an opportunity for an affordable and accessible beauty-focused retail offer.
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Atomica stores will stock multiple international brands, including Bubble Skincare, Innisfree, The Ordinary, Milani, and ELF.
The conversion of the Castle Hill Priceline store to Atomica is expected to be the first step in planned expansion to other parts of Australia in 2025.
Wesfarmers is yet to announce details about where future Atomica stores will open, or how many Priceline outlets will be transitioned.
The company has, however, launched a website to introduce the brand.
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Atomica is pitched as a pure beauty brand. Photo Wesfarmers
Several industry watchers have speculated that all non-pharmacy Priceline stores will eventually be converted.
Priceline underwent a major rebrand in October, seemingly to draw attention to its pharmacy credentials.
This refresh retained elements of its previous brand – the pink colour and the iconography – and incorporated them into stylised “hearts forming a cross”, with a “green cross synonymous with pharmacy as a community health hub”.
The rebranding beefs up Priceline’s pharmacy credentials. Photo: Priceline.
At the time Brazel said the rebranding reflected the chain’s position as a “leading health and beauty retailer” with “exceptional Pharmacist-led services”.
The Priceline rebranding was also undertaken by the Houston Group.
Priceline was established as a beauty retailer in 1982 before incorporating health and pharmacy items after being acquired by Australian Pharmaceutical Industries in 2004.
The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 2022 after it outbid Sigma Healthcare to buy API.
