Indian beauty brand Kama Ayurveda opens first international store in London

A red-and-white, candy-striped new store has opened along the colorful façade of London’s Notting Hill. It’s the first brick-and-mortar store outside of India for India-based Ayurvedic beauty brand Kama Ayurveda.

The two-storey store features the brand’s best-selling products, as well as two treatment rooms offering speciality facials and head massages, and tea and Tridorus (Balancing the Three Doshas) Menu.

The store is scheduled to officially open in November. Realizing the importance of the in-store experience, Kama Ayurveda founder Vivek Sahni said, “We started research and development in 2017, but the pandemic delayed us by a few years.” After launching in 2002, the brand took the form of a shop-in-shop for the first 10 years. In 2012, it finally opened its first standalone store at Khan Market in Delhi. Currently, there are 64 stores and 75 shop-in-shops across India.

Kama Ayurveda has also partnered with British retailer Harrods and is set to open a counter on the fifth floor of the famous luxury department store in October.

To begin with, the London store will showcase 32 products, including “pure Ayurvedic heroes” like Kumkumadi, Bhringadi, Urjasura and Amarpa. “Some of the products have been enhanced keeping in mind the UK climate – for example, our night cream is thicker and heavier,” says Vivek.

When asked why he chose London as the location for his first international store, Vivek said: “The UK is a great test market as it is multicultural and a tourist hub that attracts people from all over the world all year round. It is also a major business hub and has a wide range of ethnicities and skin types, making it a great place to start.”

Vivek concludes that while not everyone in the UK may be aware of Ayurveda, it is a highly developed market in terms of its affinity for natural and organic products and it was important for us to tap into a market that was already receptive.