K-Beauty Giant Opens First U.S. Store in California

Olive Young U.S. (Los Angeles) has opened its first physical store in the U.S. today (May 29) in Pasadena, Calif. The 8700-square-foot locale, in the city’s Old Town district at 58 W. Colorado Blvd., formerly housed a Foot Locker and is sandwiched between an Apple store and a Crate & Barrel.

In its coverage of the news, BriefGlance.com Intelligence reported that the new store by the Seoul-based beauty retailer is “a departure from the traditional American retail model. Instead of organizing aisles by brand hierarchy, the stores employ a ‘skincare-first curation,’ grouping products by skin concern. This data-driven approach, honed in the fast-paced Korean market, aims to demystify K-beauty for a broader American audience, including those unfamiliar with the multi-step routines. The stores are designed as interactive ‘beauty playgrounds,’ featuring testing stations, personalized skin scans and expert-led tutorials to encourage discovery and education.”

“We see Olive Young not only as a destination for K-beauty, but as a discovery platform that brings together diverse beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands from Korea and beyond,” said Olive Young US CEO Gaeun Kwon in the brand’s press release on the store’s opening. “Our goal is to help customers continuously discover something new — from emerging trends and innovative products to routines and brands that fit their individual lifestyles. By connecting our physical store and digital platform, we hope to make beauty discovery more accessible, relevant and inspiring for American consumers.”

The 27-year-old business has 1400 stores in its home country. Its plans for the U.S. first call for more locales in the Los Angeles market and elsewhere in California. After that, the retailer said it plans “to scale its physical footprint nationwide, expanding into high-traffic commercial districts across the East Coast — including New York — before entering key Southern and Central regions.”