Shinsegae to expand Chicor to high-traffic areas of Seoul on K-beauty trend

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Shinsegae to expand Chicor to high-traffic areas of Seoul on K-beauty trend

Published: 04 Jun. 2025, 19:11 Updated: 04 Jun. 2025, 19:31

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A Chicor shop in Hongdae, western Seoul [JOONGANG ILBO]

Shinsegae is set to expand its cosmetics store, Chicor, in high-traffic areas like Gangnam Station in southern Seoul, pivoting from its luxury-focused strategy to spotlight Korean beauty brands.

According to the retail industry Wednesday, Shinsegae will open a 429-square-meter (4,617-square-foot) Chicor store at street level near Gangnam Station at the end of this month. The store will be about three times the size of an average Olive Young branch. Over half the products in the new location will come from Korean beauty brands — a notable shift from the previous ratio, where 70 percent of products were foreign brands.

“As Shinsegae’s core business has traditionally been department stores, it had centered Chicor around luxury foreign beauty brands,” said a source in the beauty industry. “But with the growing popularity of K-beauty, particularly mid- to low-priced brands, the company appears to be reorienting.”

In the 1980s, Korea’s beauty industry largely relied on door-to-door sales. In the 1990s, the market split into two sectors: department stores carrying mainly imported products, and stand-alone shops like Missha and The Face Shop offering mid- to low-priced goods.

Later, shops selling multiple brands — such as Olive Young, Lalavla and LOHB's — gained popularity, but many have since closed. Olive Young remains the dominant K-beauty platform.

A Chicor shop [SHINSEGAE]

Chicor launched its first store in December 2016, modeled after France-based beauty chain Sephora, owned by LVMH. The brand once expanded to 30 stores and posted annual revenue exceeding 100 billion won ($73 million), but now operates only 19 locations.

“The prolonged downturn in the beauty market, combined with the rise of international travel and cross-border e-commerce, has made it harder to grow demand for luxury beauty products,” said a beauty industry source, noting that both Boots and Sephora have exited the Korean market amid such conditions.

Shinsegae reportedly began restructuring its business operations after Chairperson Chung Yoo-kyung was promoted in October last year. At the end of the year, the company decided to revamp Chicor, placing the team directly under Shinsegae CEO Park Joo-hyung instead of its sales division.

A makeup show held inside a Chicor shop [JOONGANG ILBO]

A Chicor shop full with consumers [SHINSEGAE]

The Gangnam Station location will use Shinsegae’s department store supply chain to differentiate itself from other road shops. It plans to feature both domestic and foreign beauty brands that are difficult to find at Olive Young and similar outlets. For example, Bath & Body Works, available at a few Shinsegae Department Store branches, will open a shop-in-shop within Chicor. Tamburins and Nonfiction — Korean brands with exclusive distribution rights held by Shinsegae International — will also be available.

The store will also emphasize customer experience. An experiential area will allow shoppers to test scents and product textures and try makeup or hairstyling services before purchasing.

Shinsegae is reportedly reviewing additional Chicor branches in other key shopping districts including Myeong-dong and Dongdaemun in central Seoul and Hongdae in western Seoul.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY CHOI HYUN-JU [[email protected]]