CJ Olive Young to Open First U.S. Store in Pasadena in May Next Year

Preparing Multiple Store Openings in Key LA Districts
"Aiming to Contribute to the Sustainable Globalization of K-Beauty"

Yonhap News Agency

CJ Olive Young (hereafter Olive Young) announced on November 19 that it plans to open its first U.S. store in Pasadena, California in May next year.

The United States is the world's largest beauty market and a fiercely competitive arena where global beauty retail giants such as Sephora and Ulta Beauty have already established a strong presence. For this reason, launching an offline K-beauty specialty store in the U.S. holds significant strategic value for both Olive Young and domestic brands.

Olive Young plans to first open stores in key commercial districts specializing in fashion and beauty, targeting local Millennials & Gen Z consumers who are highly sensitive to trends. Pasadena is a small city located about 18 kilometers northeast of Los Angeles, known for prestigious research institutions such as the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and a high proportion of high-income residents.

In addition, Olive Young plans to sequentially open stores in central California locations, including Westfield in Los Angeles, within 2026 to maximize local consumer interest from the early stages of its U.S. expansion.

Olive Young sees significance in establishing a 'joint platform' where K-beauty brands can directly engage with consumers in the world's largest beauty market. By showcasing K-beauty-which was previously consumed as individual products through e-commerce channels-within a single offline channel, the company believes this will be an opportunity to further enhance the competitiveness of K-beauty.

The U.S. store will serve as a 'K-beauty showcase' that brings together Olive Young's merchandising curation capabilities and store operation expertise. Products will be curated based on data from Korean Olive Young stores and the Olive Young Global Mall, which are used by North American customers. The store will also introduce experiential services that allow customers to learn about K-beauty in an engaging way and experience a variety of brands. Currently, Olive Young is in discussions with over 400 K-beauty brands as well as global brands, and plans to further expand its lineup to include a wide range of beauty and wellness category products.

An Olive Young representative stated, "We aim to further spread the globally heightened interest in K-beauty to more international consumers, and establish a local foundation that enables a greater variety of brands to expand overseas, thereby contributing to the sustainable globalization of the K-beauty industry. Ultimately, we aspire to evolve into a global beauty and wellness distribution platform that encompasses everything from K-brands to international brands."

Meanwhile, Olive Young is also preparing the full range of infrastructure needed for store operations, including a local logistics center in the U.S., product sourcing, and marketing. In the long term, the company plans to build an omnichannel system that connects its U.S. offline stores and online mall to maximize shopping convenience.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.