Olive Young and Musinsa go offline in global expansion

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Olive Young and Musinsa go offline in global expansion

Published: 20 Jul. 2025, 17:45

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

U.S. customers sign up for Olive Young’s online global mall using a dedicated device at the Olive Young Myeong-dong Town store. [OLIVE YOUNG]

CJ Olive Young and Musinsa, two of Korea’s leading lifestyle and fashion giants, are moving beyond digital borders and opening brick-and-mortar stores overseas, betting that online-to-offline (O2O) strategies will secure their place in the global market.

With Korean pop culture, beauty and fashion drawing fans worldwide, both companies are racing to capitalize on K-wave momentum by planting physical flags in key shopping districts abroad.

From clicks to stores

CJ Olive Young, Korea’s largest health and beauty retailer, established its U.S. subsidiary, CJ Olive Young USA, in Los Angeles this February and is preparing to launch its first U.S. store. The move follows the surging popularity of K-beauty on its own Olive Young Global Mall and platforms like Amazon.

The stakes are high: The U.S. beauty market, valued at $120 billion in 2023, is the world’s largest single-nation beauty market, according to Euromonitor.

“About 40 percent of the U.S. population belongs to the trend-sensitive 10-to-30 age group,” a CJ Olive Young official said. “If access to K-beauty improves through offline stores, we expect rapid sales growth among younger consumers.”

Olive Young staff explains a product to foreign customers at one of its branches. [OLIVE YOUNG]

Musinsa’s global push

Musinsa, the online fashion powerhouse gearing up for an IPO, is eyeing physical expansion across Japan, China, Singapore and Thailand by next year, with plans to enter the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Malaysia by 2030. Backed by explosive growth — a 260 percent average annual increase in transaction volume on its Musinsa Global Store, which features some 2,000 brands — Musinsa is confident in its international trajectory.

Domestically, the company has honed its omnichannel strategy, allowing customers to try on items they browse online and redeem reward points in physical stores. That synergy is paying off: At Musinsa Standard’s Seongsu location, foreign shoppers accounted for 47 percent of second-quarter sales.

“Korean brands are perfectly positioned to expand globally right now,” CEO Park Joon-mo said in June, pointing to K-fashion’s growing global footprint.

Tourists pose for a photo in front of CJ Olive Young's tourism vehicle, the ″Olive Young Express.″ [OLIVE YOUNG]

Why go offline now?

“The current global interest in K-beauty and fashion makes now an ideal time for market entry,” said a retail industry source. “Blending uniquely Korean elements with local consumer trends will be essential for success.” The push for physical expansion comes amid a slowdown in the growth of Korea’s domestic market. Opening stores in the symbolic markets of North America, China and Japan is part of the broader ambition to grow into global brands.

Riding the Korean Wave, consumer affinity for K-beauty and fashion has surged through e-commerce, providing a favorable backdrop for local players entering these markets.

CJ Olive Young previously withdrew from China after opening 10 stores in the 2010s and shelved earlier plans to enter the U.S. market. This time, the company is banking on consumer data gathered from its online platform to fine-tune product sourcing and curation for U.S. shoppers.

Foreign shoppers buying products at Olive Young [OLIVE YOUNG]

While Musinsa faces logistical and inventory management costs typical of fashion platforms, it plans to leverage third-party logistics partners in key markets to address these challenges.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM KYUNG-MI [[email protected]]