How Olive Young's US store makes K-beauty interactive

Detailed summary

PASADENA, California — "Annyeonghaseyo, welcome to Olive Young!" a staff member called out as customers ambled through the door at the K-beauty retailer's first US store on…

From ingredient education to skin diagnostics, retailer to bring hands-on beauty to five California stores by 2027

PASADENA, California — "Annyeonghaseyo, welcome to Olive Young!" a staff member called out as customers ambled through the door at the K-beauty retailer's first US store on Friday.

The store, launched in May and situated on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, is designed to resemble its Korean counterparts, save for small touches like a long corridor running from the entrance to the back wall and a customer with her dog on a leash.

Spanning 803 square meters, it sits across from a Sephora store. At a glance, it is a sign of an open rivalry, though K-beauty's reach has made that beside the point. This month, Sephora will launch a K-beauty section curated by Olive Young.

"Korean beauty has become a main current in the global beauty market," said Kwon Ga-eun, head of CJ Olive Young USA. "A proven retail platform like Olive Young building a solid foothold in the US gives individual brands a far steadier springboard into the market."

Echoing what the retailer has refined at home over more than a decade, the store carries more than 400 brands and roughly 5,000 products, grouped by ingredient, skin concern and routine rather than by brand alone.

Around 1,500 customers visit the Pasadena store daily, with non-Korean shoppers making up more than half, the company said.

For a new generation raised on endless online options, its value comes as much from what it lets you do there as from what it stocks. There is a cleansing bar where customers can try facial foams and a Do-It-Yourself station for building keychains that hold miniature cosmetics. There are also places to test beauty devices.

The store's most popular service is Skin Scan, which reads a customer's skin condition through photos and sends the results straight to their phone.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Investor. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.