CHICOR Hongdae Foreign Sales Reach 91% as K-Beauty Shopping Demand Grows

CHICOR Hongdae has become a clear example of how foreign shoppers are shaping K-beauty retail in Seoul: in April 2026, foreign customer sales accounted for 91% of the store’s sales. The figure places Hongdae slightly ahead of CHICOR Myeongdong, where the foreign sales share reached 90.2% in the same month.¹

The practical takeaway for visitors is simple: CHICOR Hongdae is not just a general beauty store near a busy shopping district. It is being operated as an experience-led K-beauty stop, with makeup services, a Lip & Cheek Bar, beauty devices, and multilingual customer support all presented as part of the reason overseas shoppers are visiting and spending.²

Why CHICOR Hongdae Foreign Sales Stand Out

CHICOR Hongdae opened on December 11, 2025, following the December 5 opening of CHICOR Myeongdong. Shinsegae Group described Hongdae as its second store near Hongik University Station after the AK Hongdae location, and introduced a three-floor layout: a K-perfume station on the first floor, makeup and beauty tools on the second floor, and skincare plus hair and body categories on the third floor.³

That store strategy quickly turned into measurable sales momentum. Shinsegae Department Store said the Myeongdong and Hongdae stores, both opened in December 2025, nearly doubled sales within four months of opening.¹ Yonhap News also reported that sales at the two stores had nearly doubled compared with the initial opening period, citing Shinsegae Department Store.²

For Hongdae specifically, the 91% foreign sales share in April 2026 is the key number. It means that roughly nine out of ten sales at the store came from foreign customers during that measured period. The Myeongdong figure, 90.2%, confirms that the pattern is not limited to one store but is concentrated in Seoul shopping districts where overseas visitors are already active.¹

The Hongdae area was already showing foreign customer demand before the new CHICOR Hongdae store opened. Shinsegae Group reported that foreign customer sales at CHICOR AK Hongdae from January to October 2025 increased 77% year over year.³ That earlier growth helps explain why a larger Hongdae strategy would focus on services and categories likely to appeal to overseas K-beauty shoppers.

What Foreign Shoppers Can Use In Store

The most useful detail for visitors is that CHICOR Hongdae is built around more than browsing shelves. Sources identify color diagnosis, touch-up services, makeup artist support, beauty devices, and the Lip & Cheek Bar as experiential elements connected to foreign customer visits.²

The Lip & Cheek Bar is especially relevant to the parent search interest because it gives customers a focused point for trying color products rather than comparing items only by packaging or online reviews. The available source material does not provide a full product list, reservation process, service price, or operating hours for the bar, so visitors should treat the reported feature as an in-store service area rather than a guaranteed appointment program.

Shinsegae Group also said the Myeongdong and Hongdae stores operate beauty device and makeup experience services, with an average of 20 to 30 people using makeup services per day.¹ That daily usage figure covers the Myeongdong and Hongdae stores together in the provided material, so it should not be read as a separate daily count for Hongdae alone.

Several reports connect the rise in foreign sales with categories that invite testing and consultation. Electronic Times reported that skincare and beauty device sales at the Myeongdong and Hongdae stores increased more than 2.5 times in April 2026 compared with January 2026.⁴ Newspim likewise reported that skincare and beauty device sales rose more than 2.5 times over the same January-to-April period, and noted that English, Chinese, and Japanese-speaking staff were placed in stores.⁵

For a foreign visitor, that means the strongest use case is not only buying a trending K-beauty item. It is comparing shades, receiving basic makeup assistance, checking beauty devices, and asking questions in major visitor languages when staff support is available. The source material confirms the presence of multilingual support but does not specify staffing hours, language coverage by floor, or whether every service is available at all times.

How To Read The 91% Sales Figure

The 91% figure is best understood as a sales-share indicator, not a foot-traffic count. The reports say foreign customer sales accounted for 91% of CHICOR Hongdae sales in April 2026. They do not state that 91% of all people entering the store were foreign customers, nor do they break down sales by nationality, product category, or payment method.¹

This distinction matters because sales share can be affected by basket size, duty-free or tourist shopping behavior, and product mix. The available sources do not provide average transaction value, visitor count, or nationality rankings, so the safest conclusion is that foreign customers represented the overwhelming majority of sales at CHICOR Hongdae during the April 2026 measurement period.

Shinsegae Department Store framed the broader CHICOR direction around differentiated brands and services. A company representative said CHICOR would continue discovering “differentiated brands and services” and grow into a “K-beauty destination” that global customers look for first.¹ That statement fits the reported store approach: place CHICOR in high-traffic visitor districts, add experience-based beauty services, and support foreign customers through language and consultation services.

작성자 소개

Patrick Choi

Administrator

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