▲ A rendering image of the exterior view of CJ Olive Young's Pasadena store in the United States. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE)(Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- CJ Olive Young said Thursday it will open its first offline store in the United States on May 29 local time in Pasadena, California.

 

The company said it aims to leverage the curation expertise it has accumulated over 27 years as a beauty retail specialist in South Korea to establish the U.S. store as a strategic outpost for the global expansion of K-beauty and K-wellness brands.

 

The move is drawing attention in the retail industry as it goes beyond individual Korean brands entering local online and offline distribution channels, creating what the company described as a "global showcase" for K-beauty in one of the leading centers of U.S. beauty and fashion trends.

 

◇ 'K-beauty playground' in key Los Angeles-area shopping district

 

The Olive Young Pasadena store will open as a standalone single-story location with a total floor area of 803 square meters. An Apple Store is located next door, while large outlets of premium global brands such as Lululemon, Alo and Tiffany & Co. are situated within a one- to two-minute walk.

 

The store is comparable in size to Olive Young's average "town store" locations in South Korea.

 

At launch, the store will offer about 5,000 products from 400 beauty and wellness brands, with product displays updated as frequently as every two weeks to reflect rapidly changing K-beauty trends.

 

The company said brands were selected based on a combination of consumer data accumulated in South Korea, local customer demand and global expansion potential. More than 80 percent of the products carried will be Korean brands, reflecting strong consumer interest in products that are genuinely popular in South Korea.

 

Lee Sun-jung, chief executive officer of Olive Young, said the retailer, which has become both a leading K-beauty shopping destination and a major tourist landmark for visitors to South Korea, is now taking its first step into the strategically important U.S. market.

 

"We hope to contribute to the deeper settlement of K-beauty and K-lifestyle in overseas markets," Lee said.

 

The company said it focused on adapting Olive Young's signature "beauty playground" concept to the U.S. market.

 

The store will feature ingredient-focused skincare displays highlighting ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and PDRN, as well as gua sha tools and patches linked to functional skincare products. It will also include sinks where customers can directly test cleansing products.

 

In addition to skin and scalp diagnosis services, the store will offer one-on-one consultations on K-beauty skincare routines. Employees scheduled to work at the U.S. store visited South Korea in March to learn the company's operational know-how.

 

An Olive Young official said the U.S. location was designed not merely as a retail space, but as a place where local consumers can discover K-beauty and wellness brands while enjoying an interactive beauty shopping experience.

 

The official added that the store was developed based on expertise accumulated through innovative domestic stores, including Olive Young N Seongsu in Seoul.

 

◇ Logistics center, online mall to target U.S. consumers directly

 

Alongside the store opening, Olive Young will also launch a dedicated U.S. online mall. Compared with its existing global mall, the new platform will offer shorter delivery times and a lower threshold for free shipping.

 

The retailer established a 3,600-square-meter logistics center in Bloomington, California, in March. The facility will handle both store inventory distribution and deliveries for the online mall.

 

The company also plans to operate an integrated online-offline membership program called "OY Members," similar to its "Olive Members" program in South Korea, offering differentiated benefits based on membership tiers.

 

Olive Young plans to open five stores in the United States this year, including another location in Los Angeles in the first half. The company said it will initially focus on the Los Angeles and broader California market before expanding to key commercial districts in the central, southern and eastern United States, including New York.

 

Kwon Ga-eun, head of Olive Young's U.S. subsidiary, said the Pasadena store will serve as a strategic base for introducing a wide range of Korean brands to the global market by utilizing Olive Young's K-beauty insights and brand incubation capabilities developed in South Korea.

 

"We will strive to help even local consumers who are still unfamiliar with K-beauty discover and incorporate 'real K-beauty' into their daily lives through Olive Young's online and offline stores," Kwon said.

 

jwc@yna.co.kr

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