CJ Olive Young Launches First U.S. Store in Pasadena, California

CJ Olive Young is making its entry into the U.S. market by opening its first offline store in Pasadena, California, targeting the world's largest beauty market. The company aims to expand its reach to local consumers by launching an experiential store featuring K-beauty products alongside a dedicated online store.

According to industry sources, the Pasadena store, which opened on May 29, is a single-story building with a total area of 803 square meters (approximately 243 pyeong). It features over 5,000 products from around 400 brands, with more than 80% of the items sourced from domestic brands.

The store layout reflects local consumers' skincare routines and concerns, with products organized by issues such as whitening, moisturizing, and blemish care. Additionally, the store will update its displays every two weeks to align with changing K-beauty trends.

To enhance the shopping experience, Olive Young has introduced a self-diagnosis service using skin scanning devices. Customers can assess their skin condition and receive personalized consultations based on the results, aiming to boost brand awareness and conversion rates.
 

The decision to open a store in the U.S. is backed by consumer data from its global mall and the growth of K-beauty. More than half of the sales from Olive Young's global mall come from the U.S. Additionally, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety reported a 40% increase in cosmetic exports to the U.S. in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. K-beauty products have also increased to 28 in Amazon's Top 100 Beauty list.

In preparation for the Pasadena store opening, Olive Young invested in training local staff. In March, employees from the Pasadena store traveled to Korea to learn about store operations and customer service techniques.

Alongside the offline store launch, Olive Young is also opening a dedicated online store for the U.S. market. This strategy is designed to encourage customers to experience products in-store and then reorder online. The shipping time for the new online store has been reduced to 3-5 days, compared to the previous 5-7 days for the global mall. The threshold for free shipping has also been lowered from $60 to $35.

To facilitate this, Olive Young established a 3,600 square meter (approximately 1,100 pyeong) logistics center in Bloomington, California, in March. This center will handle deliveries for the U.S. online store. Olive Young plans to introduce a pickup service for online orders at its stores in the future.

The company will also implement a U.S.-specific membership program. Starting in July, Olive Young will launch the 'OY Members' program, offering discounts and bonus points during the first seven days of each month.

Olive Young plans to open another store in Los Angeles within the first half of the year, with a goal of expanding to five stores in the U.S. within a year. Initially, the focus will be on the West Coast, particularly in Los Angeles and California, before expanding to the Midwest and major East Coast markets, including New York.

Kwon Ga-eun, head of Olive Young's U.S. operations, stated, "We will strive to help local consumers, who may be unfamiliar with K-beauty, discover and incorporate authentic K-beauty into their daily lives through our online and offline stores."