[On the Scene] From Indie Beauty Brands to a Pharmacy—MUSINSA to Open Its First Standalone Beauty Store in Hongdae

[Financial News] A preview was held on the 10th at MUSINSA BEAUTY Hongdae in Seoul’s Mapo District, one day before the store’s opening. Upon entering, the first thing that caught the eye was the neatly arranged interior, centered on three colors: white, pink and silver. The first above-ground floor, connected to the entrance, features categories that express personal tastes, including fragrance, makeup and colored contact lenses. The most notable feature was the prominent placement of new brands and unfamiliar product lines from familiar brands. Versace perfumes, which are typically available in only one or two varieties at other stores, occupied two shelves with six varieties on display. The colored-lens section also featured many distinctive products, including a Teenieping collaboration line.
According to industry sources on the 10th, MUSINSA BEAUTY will open its first standalone offline store in Hongdae on the 11th. After creating a beauty zone on the second floor of Musinsa Megastore Seongsu last April, MUSINSA is expanding its online beauty-curation capabilities into a standalone store. The most distinctive feature of the 1,262-square-meter store, which spans one basement level and three above-ground floors, is the pharmacy inside. This reflects growing demand for “pharmacy beauty,” fueled in part by medical tourism to Korea. MUSINSA BEAUTY Hongdae will showcase approximately 12,000 products from about 870 brands, combining beauty and pharmacy offerings.
Kim Yeon-jin, head of MUSINSA BEAUTY’s offline team, said, "As a late entrant to the offline beauty market, we spent a great deal of time considering how we could build a competitive edge." Kim added, "The key is allowing customers to experience in person the application, scent and feel of products—things that are difficult to assess online."

The store is designed as a “discovery channel.” Rather than simply lining up products from famous brands, it focuses on helping customers discover brands they do not usually encounter. The first-floor fragrance zone centers on emerging and niche brands, while the brand-highlighting zone spotlights brands with limited offline exposure in Korea. Kim said, "We have concentrated each brand on a single display so that customers can immerse themselves in the brand itself." Kim added, "We hope this will help indie brands reach new customers and give foreign visitors to Korea an opportunity to discover K-beauty brands they did not yet know about."
Indie brands account for nearly 70% of the beauty brands entering MUSINSA BEAUTY Hongdae. This represents the transfer to beauty of MUSINSA’s incubation strategy, through which it has discovered and nurtured emerging fashion brands. At MUSINSA’s beauty event “Muvuefe in Seongsu” held last month, more than 80% of the 64 participating brands were indie brands. During the event, the online transaction value of about 60 brands rose 226% from the same period immediately before, while the transaction value of all participating brands increased 150%.
The first basement level houses Beauty Onnuri Pharmacy, an independent 176-square-meter pharmacy. It is operated by a separate business from MUSINSA, with at least two pharmacists on site. MUSINSA does not participate in the selection or sale of over-the-counter medicines, but it collaborates on the curation of cosmetics sold at the pharmacy. Kim explained, "The recent popularity of pharmacy beauty reflects the evolution of consumers." Kim continued, "Consumers have moved from seeking out famous brands, to examining ingredients such as Polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) and Houttuynia cordata, and now to consultations and personalized choices based on individual characteristics."

Starting with the Hongdae store, MUSINSA BEAUTY plans to open its second standalone store in Seongsu-dong in November. It will also launch a combined store in Jeju Province together with MUSINSA KICKS. A MUSINSA representative said, "Through MUSINSA BEAUTY’s offline stores, we will provide domestic and international customers with opportunities to experience brands and products firsthand." The representative added, "We plan to create a virtuous cycle by connecting the customer experiences formed offline to online purchases and using MUSINSA’s global customer base and channels to support K-beauty brands’ entry into and growth in overseas markets."
[email protected] Kim Hyun-ji Reporter