CJ Olive Young is pushing into the world’s largest beauty market with a new subsidiary in Los Angeles, intensifying competition with established beauty retailers like Ulta Beauty Inc. and Sephora.
The South Korean health and beauty chain is exploring potential locations for its first US store as K-beauty exports to the country climbed more than 20% annually in the past three years. The move comes as the company aims to capture a larger share of the $120 billion US beauty market, which dwarfs South Korea’s total cosmetics exports of $10.2 billion last year.
The Los Angeles-based unit will handle product sourcing, marketing and logistics for Olive Young’s global online mall, which currently serves customers in 150 countries. The retailer plans to partner with CJ Logistics, its sister company, to build a local distribution network.
CEO Lee Sun-jung said the US expansion would help create new growth opportunities for small and medium-sized Korean beauty brands. The company sees potential in combining its domestic retail experience with its e-commerce platform to better serve American consumers.
The global beauty market reached $570 billion in 2023, according to Euromonitor International.
