[The INVESTOR] South Korea’s leading cosmetics brand Hera opened its first store in China on July 1, its parent company AmorePacific said on July 4.

The first store opened at an upscale department store Shin Kong Place in Beijing, with the second one to follow at Hanguang Department Store in the same city on July 28.

Hera, which was launched in 1995, has become one of the most popular cosmetics brands in South Korea and other Asian countries, especially in China. 

Earlier last year, Hera launched a pop-up store at T Galleria by DFS in Hong Kong, to meet the growing demands of the Chinese consumers. Now there are four Hera stores in Hong Kong.

Chinese people make up 67 percent of customers at Hera’s duty-free stores here. Sales of Hera duty-free stores increased by 50 percent last year from the previous year. Among its many products, UV Mist Cushion is the brand’s best-selling item, with the item being searched more than 160,000 times a year on Taobao, China’s leading e-commerce site.

With the first store in Beijing, the company is planning to expand the number of stores to eight by end of this year, mainly targeting high-end department stores. For the convenience of customers, the company is set to open its Chinese website as well.


By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)