CJ Olive Young aims to open more U.S. stores by the first half of 2027 (1H 2027). It could change how Americans shop for K-beauty products. The company is Korea’s largest offline cosmetics retailer, but plans to open five more physical shops in California for a total of seven stores. It is doing that while keeping a curated set of Korean brands at Sephora.
Olive Young’s U.S. stores are built around trying products in person. If you are used to buying one viral bottle at a time, these shops invite you to try a whole routine first, and that could change how Americans shop for K-beauty products.
What’s Coming to Olive Young U.S. this November
How Olive Young’s U.S. stores work for shoppers
The first shop opened in Pasadena, California, on May 29, 2026, and the second opened at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles on June 13, 2026. The new locations will all be in California. Four new locations will be in Irvine Spectrum Center; Del Amo Fashion Center in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County; Bloom on Third near The Original Farmers Market in central Los Angeles; and Brea Mall in Orange County. The fifth location will be Olive Young’s first shop outside the Los Angeles area in Fashion Valley, San Diego. Opening dates have not been set.
Stores offer a free Skin Scan (an in-store skin analysis that suggests products). The company says about 27,000 people used it in the five months after the first store opened, through the end of October 2026. Shoppers can also get free one-on-one lessons in the Beauty Lab, try facial cleansers at a cleansing bar, and ask staff who have been called K-beauty ambassadors. Olive Young USA CEO Gaeun Kwon has said those associates walk customers through ingredients, results, and routines.
The Pasadena store carries about 400 brands and 5,000 products, and more than 90% of those brands are Korean. The company says a larger U.S. network will help it stock more products from small and independent Korean brands that have little distribution in the United States.
In August 2026, Olive Young and Sephora began selling an Olive Young-curated set of 19 Korean brands in more than 500 Sephora stores and on Sephora’s website.
The company has said the United States is the world’s largest cosmetics market, and that Sephora and Ulta already hold a strong position there. In 2025, CJ Olive Young’s standalone sales reached 5.8335 trillion won (about $4.37 billion). It operates more than 1,380 stores in South Korea.
SitK’s two cents on Olive Young’s U.S. stores
The United States is the biggest prize in the beauty industry. Sephora and Ulta are already staples in the country. Through its own stores, Olive Young can give American shoppers a different way of shopping for K-beauty products. The company’s Pasadena store stocks about 400 brands, far more than the 19 brands it offers at Sephora. Olive Young’s parent company, CJ Group, is a large Korean lifestyle company, which makes a multi-store U.S. build more plausible than it would be for a small independent retailer.
Could this change how America shops for K-beauty products? Two things point that way.
First, Olive Young’s U.S. stores are built so you can test products and learn a full routine before you buy. Sephora and Ulta offer similar services through appointments. However, you have to pay for Sephora’s and Ulta’s beauty services, and some Sephora services require a minimum product purchase. At Sephora, beauty services are available in most of its own stores, though not at Sephora inside Kohl’s. One option is a Beauty Lesson, priced at $75 for 75 minutes, that teaches makeup and skincare one-on-one. Menus and prices vary by store.
The core services at Olive Young’s U.S. stores are free: a Skin Scan, one-on-one Beauty Lab lessons behind a curtain, a cleansing bar for facial foams and cleansers, and staff described as K-beauty ambassadors who walk you through ingredients, results, and routines.
Second, Olive Young’s own shops give fans a fuller K-beauty experience. Olive Young’s two U.S. stores offer up to 400 brands, more than 90% of them Korean, including small and independent Korean brands the company says have little U.S. distribution. The full experience is the wider assortment plus the scan, the lessons, and the cleansing bar.
Sources: CJ Newsroom, The Asia Business Daily, The Korea Herald, Sephora Newsroom
Money Lesson
Olive Young offers the Skin Scan, Beauty Lab lessons, and the cleansing bar for free, so you can learn what your skin actually needs without buying a thing. Snap a photo of the recommendations, go home, and wait a day. If the same product is still on your list tomorrow, then buy it. A free lesson is not a reason to walk out with a full basket of Olive Young K-beauty products.
Think of us as your money-savvy best friend, not your financial adviser. This story is for information and fun, not personal advice, so talk to a licensed professional before you make any big money moves.
