The line started forming at 3 p.m. the day before Olive Young’s doors officially opened.
By sunrise Friday, hundreds of beauty lovers — many equipped with folding chairs and portable stools — had transformed four blocks of Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, Calif., into a celebration of K-beauty. Some camped overnight. Others arrived before dawn. By opening, the queue stretched roughly a quarter mile across four blocks outside Olive Young’s first U.S. store, the 8,647-square-foot flagship at 58 West Colorado Boulevard.
Standing in the back of the line at 1:45 p.m. was Samantha Sakti, 25, a Pasadena resident and former UCLA gymnast who is preparing to start physician assistant school. She had already made a friend.
While grabbing a drink nearby, Sakti spotted a shopper carrying a giant Olive Young tote overflowing with products.
“I asked her, ‘How long was the line? Is it worth it?’” Sakti recalled. “And she said, ‘100 percent.’”
That woman had arrived at 2 a.m. and was among the first 200 customers through the doors. She told Sakti that staff had distributed water, cupcakes and cookies to those waiting overnight and showed off her haul of products, including Mediheal face masks, South Korean snacks and beauty devices.
It was all the convincing Sakti needed.
Atmosphere at the Olive Young store in Pasadena, Calif., on May 27.
Gilbert Flores/WWD
“Skin care has been a huge part of my routine because I have eczema and dry, sensitive skin,” she said. “I know Korean brands are very good with taking care of your skin.”
Sakti first discovered Olive Young while visiting South Korea and became devoted to brands like Anua, Torriden and Mediheal.
Asked what she loves most about K-beauty, Sakti said its gentler approach: “It’s safe for your skin because it’s not too strong. Not too harsh.”
She was especially eager to try the store’s free skin analysis service, check out Mediheal products and some popular snacks, including the much-loved Korean bagel chips.
“It’s not just the skin care,” she said. “It’s everything.”
A sense of discovery is precisely what Olive Young hopes to bring to American shoppers. The beauty retail giant, which operates more than 1,380 stores in South Korea and generated approximately $4.2 billion in sales there in 2025, views the Pasadena flagship as the beginning of a broader U.S. expansion, said Olive Young USA’s chief executive officer Gaeun Kwon. The company plans to open at least five more California stores by the first half of 2027, with a second Los Angeles-area location expected to open at Westfield Century City later this month.
In Pasadena, roughly 6,000 people visited the flagship from Friday to Sunday, Olive Young said.
Inside the new store, shoppers browsed brightly lit aisles organized by skin care concerns, exploring more than 5,000 products from roughly 400 brands. At the entrance, a “Top Picks” display spotlighted three ranked products: Round Lab’s Birch Juice Moisturizing Sun Serum as number one, followed by Rejuran’s Dual Effect Ampoule and Foodology’s Coleology Cutting Jelly.
To the right, Urban Decay showcased a prominent display, while Mediheal was featured on the opposite side, highlighting Olive Young’s strategy of pairing a U.S. or local brand with a K-beauty brand. The store emphasized discovery and education through product testers and a central “Cleanse Bar,” as well as a Hapa Kristin color contact lens station staffed by an eye care professional and a pink “Charm & Minis” section geared toward younger shoppers.
Skin care dominated the front of the store, with dedicated areas for toner pads, face masks, cleansers, derma care, hair care and fragrance. Makeup categories followed farther inside, while Korean snacks, supplements and wellness products were positioned toward the back — which many shoppers browsed while waiting in the checkout line.
Atmosphere at the Olive Young store.
Gilbert Flores/WWD
Among those in line was Alnar Marcaida, 30, a contract writer from Long Beach who drove about 40 minutes to attend opening day after discovering Olive Young during a recent trip to South Korea.
“I decided to come on opening day,” he said.
Arriving at 9 a.m., Marcaida spent nearly four hours waiting outside before entering the store. The freebies helped pass the time, he said, noting that staff distributed product samples.
Inside, he headed straight for products that had previously been difficult to find in the U.S. Among his planned purchases were Beplain’s Mung Bean pH-balanced Cleansing Foam, Rejuran’s Turnover Mask with c-PDRN and Hair Plus’ Protein Bond Treatment, which he first discovered in South Korea.
“When I first got it, I ran out,” he said of the hair product. “When this store opened up, I was really excited to see that they had it.”
For shoppers like Marcaida, the appeal was finding products that previously required a trip abroad or a long online wait.
But as Olive Young launched its dedicated U.S. website and prepared to open stores Stateside, some longtime customers raised questions online about product availability and whether formulations had changed from those sold through the Olive Young Global site.
According to Olive Young’s global communications lead, Rena Kim, “with the exception of certain sunscreen products, the vast majority of skin care products offered through Olive Young’s U.S. store and website are the same products and formulations sold in Korea.”
Kim noted that sunscreen remains a unique category in the U.S. because it is regulated as an over-the-counter drug, requiring some products to be reformulated. Outside of sunscreen, Kim said formulation changes have been “minimal.”
Some shoppers also noticed a smaller assortment online than what was previously available through Olive Young Global. The company said certain limited-edition products, collaborations and promotional sets require additional registration and compliance processes before they can be sold in the U.S.
“Looking ahead, customers can expect a broader and more diverse assortment on the U.S. website, including exclusive products, special collaborations and new brand launches that will further enhance the discovery experience,” Kim told WWD.
At launch, products sold through Olive Young’s U.S. website are shipped from a domestic logistics center, offering faster fulfillment, a lower free-shipping threshold of $35 and no additional shipping fees or import duties. The retailer also acknowledged that some popular South Korean brands are currently unavailable because of existing retail partnerships in the U.S.
Even so, Olive Young said its American assortment includes brands making their first offline retail debut in the U.S., including skin care labels Thome, Eqqualberry, Primera, Centellian24 and Isoi; makeup brands So Natural and Heart Percent, and wellness and food brands Nothing Better, InnerB, Veganery by d’Alba and Super Matcha.
Atmosphere at the Olive Young store on May 27 in Pasadena, Calif.
Gilbert Flores/WWD
“This is only the beginning for Olive Young U.S.,” Kim said. “We are actively working to expand our assortment and bring more Korean brands to American consumers.”
According to Olive Young, skin care, sun care, sheet masks and cleansers accounted for more than 60 percent of opening-day sales. Makeup categories, including lip products, cushions and foundations, followed, while hair care, body care, beauty accessories and wellness products also performed strongly.
Among those emerging from the checkout line was Liz Navar, 26, a Culver City property manager and part-time makeup artist.
“I’m a crazy skin care person,” she laughed, sharing that her total came to about $500, after a 20 percent discount for spending more than $100.
After arriving around 8:20 a.m. and spending roughly four to five hours waiting outside, followed by another 45 minutes in line to pay, Navar left with the Wellage Real Hyaluronic Ampoule she had planned to buy, an On:The Body Foot Shampoo she picked up on impulse and a shopping bag full of other skin care and wellness finds.
“We want to age gracefully,” Navar said. “Prepping your skin and taking care of it before doing the makeup — a night and day difference.”
