ULTA vs SW Comparison

Ulta Beauty is the largest specialized beauty retailer in the US with more than 1,500 freestanding stores. The firm offers cosmetics (38% of 2025 sales), fragrances (13%), skin care (24%), and hair care products (19%). It also has salon services, including hair, makeup, skin, and brow, that account for 4% of its revenue and drive customer traffic. Outside of the US, Ulta operates premium beauty retailer Space NK (86 stores at year-end 2025 in the UK and Ireland) and has franchised stores in Mexico, and a joint venture in the Middle East. Ulta was founded in 1990 and is based in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

Smurfit WestRock PLC manufactures corrugated packaging and consumer packaging, such as folding cartons and paperboard. operates a vertically integrated system supplying wood and recovered fiber to produce various grades of board, which are then converted into packaging products. Its main packaging categories include corrugated containers and consumer packaging, with additional products such as solidboard, kraft paper, graphic board, paper sacks, and bag-in-box packaging. The company's geographical segments include North America (including the U.S., Canada and Mexico), Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. The majority of the company's revenue is derived from product sales in the North American region.