Morphe Shuts Down All UK Stores, Employees Left in Shock

In a surprising move, Morphe has decided to close all its standalone stores across the UK. This shift comes as the makeup brand aims to focus more on wholesale and online sales.

The popular makeup retailer, once the go-to brand for makeup fans, closed all seven of its shops on July 31, 2024, leaving 73 employees without jobs effective immediately.

Morphe opened its first UK store in Westfield Stratford back in 2018, and customers were always impressed by their shopping experience. However, the brand has now removed its standalone branches from its online store locator.

Instead, shoppers can still find Morphe products at make-up counters in Boots, Superdrug, and select Selfridges, H Beauty, and Flannels stores. A spokesperson for Forma Brands, Morphe’s parent company, confirmed this decision, stating that they are focusing on growth through wholesale and e-commerce operations.

The spokesperson mentioned that their owned stores in Europe faced high rent costs, leading to the tough choice of shutting down all UK and one Amsterdam location.

They added, “We are immensely grateful to our incredible store teams for their dedication and passion over the years and are working to support them through this transition.” Unfortunately, immediate redundancies were necessary due to these closures.

Past employees have taken to social media to voice their anger and frustration about not receiving any prior notice regarding the job losses. One Twitter user shared, “My friend who works at Morphe has just let me know she’s been made redundant because they’re closing all UK stores with no notice.”

Many former employees have said that they wish for smooth transitions to new job opportunities, stating that redundancy is one of the toughest situations to handle.

This closure comes just a year after Morphe shuttered all its stores in the United States in January 2023. Shortly after that, their parent company, Forma Brands, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In March 2023, it was revealed that Forma Brands struck a deal with lenders Jefferies Finance and Cerberus Capital Management to relieve $690 million in debt. Morphe, which was valued at over $2 billion at its peak, has struggled in recent years due to a decline in demand for color cosmetics.

The brand had seen rapid growth through partnerships with influencers such as Jeffree Star and James Charles but has faced hardships after parting ways with both influencers amid controversy.