Apprentice semi-finalist and Newry native, Grainne McCoy, opened the doors to her own store on Saturday 26th September, exactly four years to the day after her debut on the hit BBC One show. Give Us Beauty launched initially as an online makeup store in April 2020 and following its success plus significant investment, the retail store will this month create seven local jobs.
The Give Us Beauty store is an all-encompassing beauty emporium, providing not only a retail store for cosmetics but a blow-dry bar, a makeup studio and beauty clinic all under the one roof. The store will house global brands such as INGLOT, Note Cosmetics, Maybeline, Revlon, SOSU by SJ, P. Louise and much more. Customers will also be able to avail of services including makeup applications, 1-to-1 lessons, facials, massages, hair styling and spray tanning.
Speaking on the new business venture, founder Grainne McCoy said,
“I am absolutely delighted to finally be opening my own store which has been four years in the making. It was in my initial business plan to Lord Alan Sugar to have a retail store for cosmetics that could survive online and also physically be a one-stop-shop for all your beauty needs. We launched GiveUsBeauty.com back in March 2020 and the response has been phenomenal. We were planning to launch the retail store at the same time however obviously things were delayed due to covid-19.”
Grainne added, “Covid has presented a difficult time for our industry but I am confident now is the right time to introduce the retail store. I was also conscious to work with and support local designers to create an innovative space for the city with quirky features throughout to establish an ‘instagramable’ destination for Newry.”
In the months ahead the new store will be housing its very own make-up training academy, where budding make-up artists can avail of innovative lessons in the artistry of make-up, learning complex techniques from Grainne McCoy and a team of highly trained artists.
Grainne adds, “I am extremely excited for the people of Newry and beyond to see what we have done with this space. This is more than a retail store, it is a space for training the next generation of makeup artists, for socialising with likeminded people to connect over cosmetics and to indulge in some pampering. I can’t think of a better place to initiate the Give Us Beauty journey than my hometown.”
Grainne’s impressive career has seen her work as a makeup artist for global stars at Cannes Film Festival, as well as being the in-house artist at Youtube for their Google Hangouts series. Following her stint on the BBC Apprentice in 2016, in which she finished 5th, she launched her own company, Grainne McCoy Cosmetics in 2018. Give Us Beauty represents her latest venture and acts an extension to her own personal brand. The Newry store is the first in the franchise with plans for further stores across Ireland already in place with locations to be revealed over the coming months.