CJ Olive Young (hereafter Olive Young) said on the 30th it opened a new store, Olive Young Gwangjang Market, in Seoul's Gwangjang Market and will work to strengthen tourism content that combines K-beauty with traditional markets.
The store was planned in line with the K-Dailycation tourism trend, which lets visitors experience the everyday culture of Koreans. The idea is to increase visits by foreign travelers to Gwangjang Market and develop traditional markets into tourism courses where people can experience K-culture as a whole.
Gwangjang Market is decorated with an Olive Young fair concept that combines a 1960s shop style with K-beauty. The store opened on the second floor of Textile District 2, one of Gwangjang Market's signature landmarks, covering 244 pyeong. Retro-style interiors are applied throughout so shoppers can feel the past and present of Gwangjang Market alongside K-beauty shopping.
Olive Young differentiated the space layout and product planning, considering its location in Gwangjang Market. Instead of separately selling snacks such as gim bugak and dried fruit, which are representative market foods, it created a "raw-ingredient curation zone," a K-beauty product recommendation space focused on natural raw materials that fit a traditional market. It also operates a "raw-ingredient exploration zone," where visitors can examine actual raw ingredients and their benefits, such as green tangerine, birch, carrot, and mugwort.
A retro photo zone was also created so visitors can keep their experiences at Gwangjang Market as memories. The photo zone is stocked with hanbok, durumagi, and accessories, allowing photography in various concepts that bring out a Korean atmosphere.
The beauty care experience space also reflects the market's traditional vibe. It offers skin and scalp diagnoses and personal color analysis services, and for the personal color experience in particular, it places traditional fabrics—signature products of Gwangjang Market—alongside diagnostic devices. By letting customers compare colors themselves, it strengthened the experiential elements. The service supports English, Chinese, and Japanese so foreign customers can use it easily.
The store flow was designed with foreign tourists' shopping patterns in mind. Display fixtures are arranged in the order of cleansing, beauty devices, skincare, and sheet masks so customers naturally experience a K-skincare routine as they browse the store. It also operates a makeup bar where customers can immediately test products suited to them after the personal color experience.
Olive Young plans to expand K-beauty landmarks that reflect regional characteristics, like Gwangjang Market, nationwide. By creating stores that promote both Korean culture and local charm, it aims to increase visits by domestic customers as well as foreign travelers to local commercial districts and contribute to revitalizing local economies.
Meanwhile, Olive Young signed a mutual growth agreement that day with the Gwangjang Market Merchants' Association and Gwangjang Co. for regional co-prosperity. Going forward, it plans to continue cooperation for the development of Gwangjang Market, such as planning joint marketing during peak holiday seasons by using a portion of Gwangjang Market store revenue.
An Olive Young official said, "Because we are showcasing a store in a traditional market, the most Korean of spaces, we meticulously planned the overall content so visitors can experience not only K-beauty but also Korea's unique culture," adding, "We will continue to refine our global tourism commercial district strategy to raise the satisfaction of visiting tourists and contribute to the K-tourism industry."