Sulwhasoo to enter French cosmetics market

Amorepacific’s cosmetics brand Sulwhasoo will launch an independent store at France’s largest department store chain Galeries Lafayette this September.

The French upmarket department store is the largest chain of its kind in the country, and is famous for selling designer labels and luxury beauty brands favored by customers with deep pockets.

It will offer the brand’s best-selling products, such as its First Care Activating Serum and Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Cream, which are Sulwhasoo’s signature products.

The store will be designed with oriental herbal medicine motifs, and traditional raw materials such as ginseng displayed, with an aim to attract French customers based on philosophy and authenticity as Korea’s leading cosmetics brand. Sulwhasoo’s products will also be sold on Galeries Lafayette’s online mall.

The entry into Galeries Lafayette is a meaningful challenge for Amorepacific in that it will target the French market, also known as the birthplace of beauty products. AmorePacific’s first entry into the French market was the export of the “SOON” brand in October 1988.

In August 1990, AmorePacific established a local corporation in Chartres, produced the Liricos brand and made a discreet foray into France. However, due to the lack of consideration for local customers and the loss of sales rights, the two brands were in a crisis.

AmorePacific then established a strategy to target the fragrance category in the French cosmetics market. AmorePacific established a factory equipped with ultra-modern facilities in Chartres in April 2004 and took over the luxury brand “Annick Goutal” in August 2011 to strengthen its perfume brand portfolio. The firm is now expanding their perfume business into new overseas markets.

By entering Galeries Lafayette, Sulwhasoo will continue to strengthen its presence as a true global brand not only in Asia and the Americas but also in the European market, delivering Korean beauty and value throughout the world.