Shinsegae Opens New York Pop-Up to Expand K-Beauty Reach

Shinsegae has opened a three-month beauty pop-up at The Shops at Hudson Yards in New York, adding another high-profile push to bring emerging Korean brands to American shoppers.

The 2,000-square-foot store, named Hyper Ground, began welcoming customers Friday. It carries more than 30 Korean beauty and lifestyle labels, most of which have not yet secured distribution through major beauty retailers in the United States, according to reporting by WWD.

The launch follows the arrival of other Korean retail specialists in the American market. Olive Young, Korea’s largest beauty retailer, recently opened its first U.S. location in California and introduced a selection of brands at certain Sephora stores. Shinsegae is now positioning its own retail concept as a way to introduce less-established Korean labels while offering shoppers a more deliberately edited experience.

A curated view of Seoul beauty

Hyper Ground includes Skit, the skin-care brand founded by Korean model Irene Kim, as well as MiHak, which sells fragrance and body-care products. The assortment also includes makeup, skin-care and lifestyle names such as Bbia, Ongredients, Mujagi, Epais, AZH, Kundal, Tender Garden, Paul & Anna and Yunjac.

Rather than arranging the store as a broad catalogue of Korean products, Shinsegae has divided it into sections based on different aspects of daily life in Seoul. Seoul Senses focuses on home and fragrance. Night Reset brings together hair-care products and items intended for evening routines. Seoul Morning & City Glow is dedicated to facial skin care and beauty devices.

JinKyung Park, a senior manager on Shinsegae’s fashion platform team within its merchandising division, told WWD that the company wanted the store to express what feels current and compelling in Seoul. The approach reflects a broader change in how Korean brands are being presented abroad: nationality may attract initial attention, but retailers increasingly need to explain each label’s purpose, identity and relevance.

The New York location will operate seven days a week through December. Its temporary format gives Shinsegae an opportunity to test products and merchandising ideas with American customers without committing immediately to a permanent store network.

From Paris to the U.S.

Hyper Ground builds on Shinsegae’s first international experiment with the concept. One year ago, the company staged a Hyper Ground pop-up at Printemps in Paris featuring approximately 10 brands. The experience helped shape the New York assortment and the way the products are organized.

According to Park’s account to WWD, the Paris event showed that international shoppers are becoming more knowledgeable about Korean beauty and fashion. They are not necessarily choosing a product simply because it comes from Korea. Instead, they want to understand what distinguishes an individual brand, including its product results, visual language, founders and relationship to modern Korean life.

That lesson is particularly relevant in the United States, where interest in K-beauty has expanded quickly. TikTok helped propel newer names such as Beauty of Joseon, Dr. Melaxin and Anua into the view of consumers around the world beginning in 2024. NielsenIQ data cited by WWD shows that 29 percent of U.S. households now buy K-beauty products each year. The comparable figures were 23 percent a year earlier and 19.7 percent two years earlier.

A crowded American market

The category’s growth has prompted major American retailers to compete for its most sought-after brands. Ulta Beauty, Target and Sephora have all pursued agreements in the sector, raising the stakes for companies trying to bring lesser-known labels to shoppers.

Shinsegae’s advantage is its access to a wide range of Korean brands and its experience selecting products for fashion and beauty consumers. Its challenge is to persuade U.S. shoppers that Hyper Ground offers more than another collection of viral products.

The company says its ambition is broader than exporting goods. It wants to discover brands early, adapt their presentation for local customers and give them an entry point into the American market. The New York pop-up is the first U.S. expression of that strategy.

Shinsegae generated about 7.4 trillion South Korean won, or $5.3 billion, in revenue in 2025. With Hyper Ground, the department store is seeking a larger role in a fast-growing beauty segment while testing whether a carefully themed retail experience can help new Korean labels stand apart from the better-known names already available in the United States.