[Report] Olive Young Enters 580 Sephora Stores in U.S.... Exporting K-Beauty 'Curation'

'K-Beauty Edit' Launches at 87% of U.S. Sephora Stores

Direct Curation: Over 150 Products from 19 Brands

Standalone Stores for Experience, Sephora for Expansion... Dual-Track Strategy

"I recently traveled to Korea. Olive Young is very popular among women there. Since I have a Korean friend, I bought some products she recommended from Olive Young. Korean skincare products are quite famous, and now I'm glad I can buy even more of them at Sephora."

American beauty influencers are exploring Olive Young, which has entered the distribution channel Sephora in a 'Shop in Shop' format. New York, USA – Photo by Yoonjoo Hwang

On August 20 (local time), Alice (36, Brooklyn), who was met in Times Square, New York, shared her thoughts about Olive Young's entry into Sephora in the United States. Olive Young, which she used to visit in person while traveling in Korea, can now be found in one of America's leading beauty retail stores.

On a massive screen amid the glittering billboards of Times Square, a green-colored advertisement appeared, reading, "Korea's #1 Beauty Store Is at Sephora." Just below this screen, inside the Sephora flagship store, a dedicated space with the sign "OLIVE YOUNG K-Beauty Edit" was set up. Customers tested Korean beauty products such as Rejuran, Toriden, and Arencia, or checked their product descriptions.

CJ Olive Young is using Sephora as a springboard to expand its connection with U.S. consumers nationwide. Olive Young has introduced the "Olive Young K-Beauty Edit" at 580 out of approximately 670 Sephora brick-and-mortar stores in the United States. This means the brand is present in about 87% of all U.S. Sephora stores, including 16 locations just in Manhattan, New York.

On the 20th, local customers crowded the moving pop-up of Olive Young 'K-Beauty Edit' set up in the middle of Times Square in Manhattan, New York, USA. Olive Young

The key point of this initiative is that it is not just about individual K-beauty brands entering the market, but about Olive Young's overall curation itself making its way into the U.S. market. The K-Beauty Edit features over 150 products from 19 brands, including skincare and beauty devices that are considered competitive from the perspective of American consumers.

At the Times Square flagship, this curation is offered as a distinct shop-in-shop. Rather than being organized by brand, products are grouped by skin concerns and efficacy—such as Skin Reset, Boost & Glow, Advanced Actives, and Mask Library. Some products are labeled "OLIVE YOUNG AWARDS 2025 WINNER" to present their popularity in the Korean market as a point of reference for consumers.

Outside the store, visitors could experience Olive Young's curation strategy even more directly. For two days, Olive Young operated a large green popup truck right in the middle of Times Square. People flocked to try out the "15 Trendy K-Beauty Products Selected by Olive Young" and receive free samples.

Previously, in May and June, Olive Young had opened standalone stores in Pasadena and Los Angeles (LA), California. While these standalone stores serve as in-depth showcases for a variety of K-beauty brands and authentic Korean beauty routines, Sephora is positioned to spread K-beauty even faster by leveraging its already extensive nationwide retail network.

An Olive Young representative said, "Whereas our standalone U.S. stores are places for deeply experiencing K-beauty's diverse appeal and true beauty routines, Sephora will be a channel that rapidly and familiarly spreads K-beauty to a broader group of local customers."

From Olive Young's perspective, this approach allows the company to secure hundreds of consumer touchpoints at once, as opposed to gradually expanding one standalone store at a time. For American consumers, it also means they can now see and purchase K-beauty products at their nearest Sephora without having to seek out specialty stores in specific locations.

The product "Toriden," which is also famous in the United States, is displayed on the Olive Young shelves. New York, USA – Special Correspondent Yoonju Hwang

The product lineup will not remain fixed. Olive Young plans to change the brands and products featured in the K-Beauty Edit twice a year, reflecting local consumer feedback and market trends. The company aims to strengthen its role as a "K-Beauty curator," discovering rising brands in Korea and introducing them to U.S. customers.

The growing presence of K-beauty in the U.S. is the backdrop for this strategy. U.S. imports of Korean cosmetics jumped 54.4%, from USD 1.1 billion in 2023 to USD 1.7 billion in 2024, overtaking France to become number one for the first time.

With the current K-beauty boom, Olive Young plans to go beyond simply selling individual Korean beauty products in America and position itself as a distribution platform that helps consumers choose "which K-beauty products to buy" in the U.S. market.

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