During Covid, many grocery stores implemented a policy of exclusively opening up early for their more vulnerable shoppers. Last year, Costco announced that they’d be opening their warehouses an hour early for Executive Members. The policy was initially met with some pushback from non-EMs, but was well-received overall.

Sephora is the latest store to adopt special hours for its clients. After listening to feedback from the neurodivergent community, the company has decided to add quiet hours. The decision comes after a pilot program to make the store more inclusive. Here’s more from Retail Dive:

Sephora is rolling out store quiet hours globally to promote a “more peaceful and calmer shopping environment,” the company said earlier this month. The beauty retailer’s stores will turn down music and adjust screens at specified times.

“The initiative was shaped by listening to the neurodiversity community, including experts such as Open Inclusion and Purposeful Futures, but also internal [employee] resource groups,” the company said in its announcement, adding that “most of neurodivergent shoppers say quiet hours significantly improves their experience.”

The company’s rollout follows a pilot phase that included 32 stores across eight markets. Ninety-percent of customers said they think the quiet hours make Sephora stores more inclusive.

“With Quiet Hours at Sephora, we provide a beautifully calm atmosphere where clients feel welcome, allowing them to shop at their own pace, find and purchase the products they love,” Global Chief Marketing Officer at Sephora Deborah Yeh said in a statement. “Quiet Hours at Sephora is one meaningful step in our ongoing commitment to building more welcoming environments for our employees, consumers, and communities — and we know there is still much more to learn and do.”

Mass retailer Walmart added sensory-friendly store hours to its U.S. and Puerto Rico store fleet in 2023. Between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., the company’s locations turn off the radio, lower the lights and change the TV walls to static images, per an announcement at the time. Walmart confirmed this effort is still active in an email to Retail Dive on Thursday.

[From Retail Dive]

I find it curious that Sephora is getting away with promoting anything involving diversity during the current administration. As a neurodivergent person who gets overstimulated in certain situations, I appreciate that they are trying to accommodate as many customers as possible. I cannot tell you the number of times I have gone into a store with earbuds that weren’t actually playing anything. I love talking to people and making friends in the right setting, but the idea of a quiet shopping hour soothes me. I hope it means that employees will also adapt how they approach customers and not hover after asking if a shopper needs help. It’s very interesting that 90% of customers in the pilot program said it made the store feel more inclusive. I hope that other retailers follow suit.

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