Olive Young Enters U.S. With 8,647-Square-Foot Pasadena Flagship and 5 More California Stores Planned
Updated
Updated · WWD · May 29
Olive Young Enters U.S. With 8,647-Square-Foot Pasadena Flagship and 5 More California Stores Planned
9 articles · Updated · WWD · May 29
Olive Young is opening its first U.S. store Friday in Pasadena and launching a dedicated American e-commerce site, marking the South Korean beauty chain’s formal push into U.S. retail.
More than 50% of Olive Young’s global online sales came from U.S. shoppers, and the new local site removes tariff fees for customers by sourcing and shipping domestically.
The 8,647-square-foot flagship will carry about 400 brands and 5,000 products, using a U.S.-specific layout organized by skin concerns rather than by brand.
Free skin scans, testing stations, Beauty Lab education and a three-tier loyalty program are central to Olive Young’s bid to stand out in the crowded U.S. beauty market.
After generating about $4.2 billion in South Korea in 2025 and building 1,380-plus stores there, Olive Young plans at least five more California locations by the first half of 2027 before expanding to markets including New York.
With Olive Young's U.S. debut, will experiential K-beauty stores disrupt American beauty retail or face resistance from established giants?
Could the shift to in-store experiences for K-beauty signal a broader retail transformation beyond the beauty industry?