CJ Olive Young opens second US store in LA's Century City, drawing 100-meter opening-day line

CJ Olive Young announced Monday it has opened its second store in California, the Olive Young Century City store.

The 250-square-meter store is located inside Westfield Century City, a mixed-use shopping mall in Los Angeles. Shoppers began lining up before dawn on opening day, June 13 (local time), forming a queue stretching more than 100 meters outside the mall.

The store sits five to 10 minutes by car from Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, two of the most upscale destinations in the western United States. It is set within a premium retail corridor surrounded by affluent neighborhoods — Bel Air, Brentwood and Westwood — all within a 10-kilometer radius.

While the company's first US location, in Pasadena, targets local consumers in their 20s and 30s who are already enthusiastic about K-beauty, the Century City store is designed as an expansion-oriented outlet aimed at raising K-beauty's profile among premium shoppers.

Local dignitaries attended the opening, including Los Angeles City Councilmember Katie Young Yaroslavsky and Nancy Wood, president of the Century City Chamber of Commerce. "Los Angeles is the most diverse city in the world, and I expect this opening to strengthen cultural exchange and partnership between Korea and LA," Yaroslavsky said.

Local shoppers who visited the store were enthusiastic. Sharly Kumate, a Los Angeles resident, said she had traveled to Korea multiple times because of her love of K-drama series and always shopped at Olive Young while there. "It feels just like the stores in Korea, which makes me so happy," she said. "I'm planning to stock up on skincare products I've run out of and need to replace."

Sam Hill, who said he drove three hours from Santa Barbara, noted he had been buying K-beauty products online because Korean cushion foundations matched his skin tone well. "Now that there's a physical store in the US, what I love most is being able to try brands and new products directly on my skin before buying," he said. Hair designer Eric Burn said he was glad to have a store where he could test products in person, adding that he planned to buy a cleanser a staff member had recommended for his skin type.

The Century City store has devoted 1.5 times more shelf space to skincare products than a standard domestic Olive Young outlet. Dedicated zones include The Boost & Glow Bar, which showcases trendy serums and essences; The Prep Bar, featuring popular toner pads and sun-care products; and a beauty-device area introducing home-care skincare technology widely used by Korean beauty consumers. A Skin Scan service, offered free to members, recommends personalized products based on individual skin concerns.

The store will run an opening celebration through June 26, offering additional discounts by purchase amount and a complimentary Olive Young tote bag. Through June 22, customers who buy a drink made in collaboration with local café Chamberlain Coffee will receive a K-beauty sample redemption voucher. Olive Young will also roll out benefits for its US-exclusive integrated online-offline membership program, "O.Y Members," on a rolling basis. The company plans to expand the number of brands and products available at its physical stores and US online mall.

"We will build a fandom by preparing a range of services and events," a company official said. "We aim to establish ourselves as a local beauty retailer by tailoring store operations, product curation and promotions to the expectations of local consumers."