OLIVE YOUNG Opens Gwangjang Market Store, Creating a New K-Beauty Landmark

press release

OLIVE YOUNG Opens Gwangjang Market Store, Creating a New K-Beauty Landmark

2026.04.30

6min

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CJ OLIVE YOUNG has opened OLIVE YOUNG Gwangjang Market, an approximately 807-square-meter store in Seoul’s Gwangjang Market built around the “K-dailycation” trend. Inspired by 1960s Korean shops, it offers ingredient-focused K-beauty curation, multilingual beauty-care services, tourist experiences and souvenirs, and supports plans to develop regional K-beauty landmarks and Gwangjang Market through local partnerships.

A Korean beauty shop sits inside a larger store, with cosmetics shelves and glossy brick flooring.

CJ OLIVE YOUNG announced that it has opened OLIVE YOUNG Gwangjang Market, a new store in Gwangjang Market, one of Seoul’s most iconic traditional markets.

The store was designed around the emerging “K-dailycation” travel trend, which focuses on experiencing everyday Korean culture. Through the new location, OLIVE YOUNG aims to attract more international visitors to Gwangjang Market while helping establish the market as a must-visit destination encompassing the broader K-culture experience.

Spanning approximately 807 square meters across the second floor of Judanbu, one of the market’s most recognizable landmarks, OLIVE YOUNG Gwangjang Market brings K-beauty to life through its “Olyoung Yanghaeng”* concept, inspired by shops from 1960s Korea. The store features retro-inspired interiors throughout, allowing visitors to explore K-beauty while experiencing both the history and contemporary character of Gwangjang Market.

Given the store’s location within a major tourist destination, OLIVE YOUNG carefully considered everything from the spatial design to the product assortment. Rather than selling snacks such as crispy seaweed chips and dried fruit, which are among the market’s signature foods, the store features an “Ingredient Curation Zone” that recommends K-beauty products centered around natural ingredients associated with the market. An “Ingredient Discovery Zone” also allows visitors to see the ingredients themselves, including green tangerine, birch, carrot and mugwort, and learn about their benefits.

A retro photo zone gives both local and international visitors a chance to capture and take home memories of their visit to Gwangjang Market. Visitors can choose from a variety of Korean-inspired concepts, with hanbok, durumagi and traditional accessories available as props.

The store also brings the market’s traditional character into its beauty-care experience area, which offers services including skin, scalp and personal color consultations. For the personal color experience, OLIVE YOUNG has placed traditional fabrics representative of Gwangjang Market alongside the diagnostic equipment, allowing visitors to compare colors themselves and making the experience more interactive. Beauty-care services are available in multiple languages, including English, Chinese and Japanese, making them accessible to international visitors.

The product layout was also designed with visitor flow in mind. To help international tourists naturally experience a Korean skincare routine as they move through the store, products are arranged in sequence from cleansing and beauty devices to skincare and sheet masks. A makeup bar also allows visitors to immediately test products suited to their personal color results.

The store offers additional experiences tailored to tourists, including a dedicated selection of souvenirs such as traditional-pattern keychains and magnets. To celebrate the opening, OLIVE YOUNG is also giving away traditional fabric that customers can use to wrap gifts, adding another opportunity to experience Korean culture.

OLIVE YOUNG plans to continue developing “K-beauty landmarks” across the country that reflect the distinctive character of each region, helping visitors discover not only Korean culture but also the unique appeal of local communities. As part of its KRW 123.8 billion investment in regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area, OLIVE YOUNG aims to attract both local and international visitors to regional commercial districts and contribute to their long-term economic vitality.

Meanwhile, OLIVE YOUNG signed a partnership agreement with the Gwangjang Market Merchants Association and Gwangjang Co., Ltd. on September 30 to promote shared growth in the local community. The parties plan to work together to support the development of Gwangjang Market, including through joint marketing initiatives during peak holiday shopping periods, funded in part by proceeds from OLIVE YOUNG Gwangjang Market.

“As we are opening a store in one of Korea’s most culturally representative traditional markets, we carefully designed every aspect of the experience so visitors can discover not only K-beauty but also Korea’s unique culture," said an OLIVE YOUNG representative said. "We will continue to advance our global tourism retail strategy to enhance the experience for international visitors and contribute to the growth of Korea’s tourism industry.”

* The term “Olyoung Yanghaeng” combines “Olyoung,” a familiar Korean shorthand for OLIVE YOUNG, with “yanghaeng,” a term historically used for Western-style pharmacies and general-goods stores in Korea. The concept draws on the nostalgic look and feel of these neighborhood shops while giving it a distinctly modern OLIVE YOUNG interpretation.

CJ OLIVE YOUNG announced that it has opened OLIVE YOUNG Gwangjang Market, a new store in Gwangjang Market, one of Seoul’s most iconic traditional markets. The store was designed around the emerging “K-dailycation” travel trend, which focuses on experiencing everyday Korean culture. Through the new location, OLIVE YOUNG aims to attract more international visitors to Gwangjang Market while helping establish the market as a must-visit destination encompassing the broader K-culture experience. Spanning approximately 807 square meters across the second floor of Judanbu, one of the market’s most recognizable landmarks, OLIVE YOUNG Gwangjang Market brings K-beauty to life through its “Olyoung Yanghaeng”* concept, inspired by shops from 1960s Korea. The store features retro-inspired interiors throughout, allowing visitors to explore K-beauty while experiencing both the history and contemporary character of Gwangjang Market. Given the store’s location within a major tourist destination, OLIVE YOUNG carefully considered everything from the spatial design to the product assortment. Rather than selling snacks such as crispy seaweed chips and dried fruit, which are among the market’s signature foods, the store features an “Ingredient Curation Zone” that recommends K-beauty products centered around natural ingredients associated with the market. An “Ingredient Discovery Zone” also allows visitors to see the ingredients themselves, including green tangerine, birch, carrot and mugwort, and learn about their benefits. A retro photo zone gives both local and international visitors a chance to capture and take home memories of their visit to Gwangjang Market. Visitors can choose from a variety of Korean-inspired concepts, with hanbok, durumagi and traditional accessories available as props. The store also brings the market’s traditional character into its beauty-care experience area, which offers services including skin, scalp and personal color consultations. For the personal color experience, OLIVE YOUNG has placed traditional fabrics representative of Gwangjang Market alongside the diagnostic equipment, allowing visitors to compare colors themselves and making the experience more interactive. Beauty-care services are available in multiple languages, including English, Chinese and Japanese, making them accessible to international visitors. The product layout was also designed with visitor flow in mind. To help international tourists naturally experience a Korean skincare routine as they move through the store, products are arranged in sequence from cleansing and beauty devices to skincare and sheet masks. A makeup bar also allows visitors to immediately test products suited to their personal color results. The store offers additional experiences tailored to tourists, including a dedicated selection of souvenirs such as traditional-pattern keychains and magnets. To celebrate the opening, OLIVE YOUNG is also giving away traditional fabric that customers can use to wrap gifts, adding another opportunity to experience Korean culture. OLIVE YOUNG plans to continue developing “K-beauty landmarks” across the country that reflect the distinctive character of each region, helping visitors discover not only Korean culture but also the unique appeal of local communities. As part of its KRW 123.8 billion investment in regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area, OLIVE YOUNG aims to attract both local and international visitors to regional commercial districts and contribute to their long-term economic vitality. Meanwhile, OLIVE YOUNG signed a partnership agreement with the Gwangjang Market Merchants Association and Gwangjang Co., Ltd. on September 30 to promote shared growth in the local community. The parties plan to work together to support the development of Gwangjang Market, including through joint marketing initiatives during peak holiday shopping periods, funded in part by proceeds from OLIVE YOUNG Gwangjang Market. “As we are opening a store in one of Korea’s most culturally representative traditional markets, we carefully designed every aspect of the experience so visitors can discover not only K-beauty but also Korea’s unique culture," said an OLIVE YOUNG representative said. "We will continue to advance our global tourism retail strategy to enhance the experience for international visitors and contribute to the growth of Korea’s tourism industry.” * The term “Olyoung Yanghaeng” combines “Olyoung,” a familiar Korean shorthand for OLIVE YOUNG, with “yanghaeng,” a term historically used for Western-style pharmacies and general-goods stores in Korea. The concept draws on the nostalgic look and feel of these neighborhood shops while giving it a distinctly modern OLIVE YOUNG interpretation.