CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun calls Olive Young's first U.S. store 'a great beginning' for global expansion

CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun visited the first U.S. CJ Olive Young store in Pasadena, Los Angeles, on Thursday, calling the opening "far more than launching a single store — it is our first step into the world's largest market and a great beginning toward reaching every corner of the globe."

According to CJ Group, Lee said the company must "spread a healthy, stylish lifestyle culture into the everyday lives of American customers, going beyond the popular cosmetics industry and K-wellness."

Lee reviewed the store's opening preparations and discussed the direction of the company's North America expansion with senior executives. The visit was joined by Kim Hong-gi, chief executive of CJ Corp; Lee Sun-jung, chief executive of CJ Olive Young; and Lee Sun-ho, head of CJ Group's future planning division.

Addressing store employees directly, Lee said, "This place is the starting point for going out to the whole world — wherever the global stage may be, you are that first departure." He added, "Please join us on this journey of sharing a lifestyle with the world. I hope you will be part of this beautiful journey into the future alongside me."

Lee also urged staff to "take pride in being a bridgehead that discovers capable small and medium-sized K-brands and grows them into global mega-brands, and in building a sustainable K-beauty ecosystem." The remark reflected the fact that the vast majority of the roughly 400 brands and 5,000 products carried at the Pasadena store come from small and medium-sized enterprises.

Before traveling to Los Angeles, Lee visited CJ CheilJedang's U.S. food subsidiary in Minneapolis, Minnesota — his first trip to the unit in seven years, since the company acquired American frozen food company Schwan's in 2019. He took part in a product demonstration and joined a tasting session covering more than 30 items.

"CJ is a 'life company' with countless dimensions — food, beauty, style, convenience — so becoming one team and generating synergy is more important than anything else," Lee said. "Grounded in our 'ONLYONE' spirit of pursuing the first, the best and the differentiated, we must become the No. 1 company in the food market through the capabilities and opportunities we possess."

The North America management tour — which began at The CJ Cup in Texas before moving through Minnesota and California — is part of Lee's effort to organically connect CJ's food, beauty and content businesses and strengthen the competitiveness of the K-lifestyle brand in global markets. Lee also received briefings on North America expansion plans for CJ Foodville, CJ ENM and CJ Logistics, and reviewed key management issues.

Lee is scheduled to remain in the United States through early June, reviewing the future competitiveness of content businesses including ScreenX and 4DX, and meeting with local content and media industry figures to discuss a range of global collaboration opportunities.