Silicon2 announced on the 19th that its directly operated K-beauty select shop MOIDA opened its first store in Porto, Portugal, on the 15th (local time). The company will open its second store, a flagship, in the capital Lisbon on the 22nd, accelerating its push into the Southern European market.
Silicon2’s first Portugal store opened on Rua de Santa Catarina 217, Porto’s largest shopping district, often called “Korea’s Myeong-dong.” The ground-floor store covers 147 ㎡ (approx. 1,582 sq ft). The area is a prime location surrounded by the 100-year-old tourist landmark Majestic Café and global beauty brand Sephora, among others.

The second Portuguese store, in Lisbon, will be located on Rua do Carmo 47, one of the city’s signature shopping streets. It will operate as a large two-story flagship store with a total of 318 ㎡ (approx. 3,423 sq ft), combining the first floor (192.6 ㎡ / approx. 2,073 sq ft) and the second floor (125.6 ㎡ / approx. 1,352 sq ft).

The MOIDA stores will carry leading brands driving the K-beauty market, including celimax, Dr.Althea, Medicube, Beauty of Joseon, SKIN1004, COSRX, Centellian24 and Purito.

The stores will showcase a core lineup of skincare products and beauty devices that have drawn buzz on global social media. Representative SKUs include celimax’s The Vita A Retinol Shot Tightening Booster, Dr.Althea’s 345 Relief Cream, Medicube’s AGE-R Booster Pro EX, SKIN1004’s Madagascar Centella Light Cleansing Oil and Beauty of Joseon’s Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics.

Considering that tourists account for a large share of visitors in the area, Silicon2 will offer tailored services such as tax-free shopping and travel kits. The company also plans to maximize K-beauty touchpoints in Southern Europe through brand pop-up marketing linked to its Lisbon flagship store.

This year, Silicon2 will lay the groundwork in the Portuguese market with the two stores in Porto and Lisbon, and plans to expand to five or more stores in Portugal by next year.

Starting with Portugal, the company will accelerate openings in key cities across major European countries, including Berlin in Germany, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, and the Netherlands, with a goal of securing more than 100 MOIDA stores worldwide by 2027.

“By entering a key Southern European hub where tourists from around the world gather, we have further strengthened the global foundation of K-beauty,” a Silicon2 official said. “Based on diverse brand curation and our distribution infrastructure, Moida will become a signature place where local customers experience and share K-beauty firsthand.”

Meanwhile, Silicon2 announced the previous day that it had secured an investment of about 300 billion won (approx. $220 million) from CVC, a European global private equity firm. The deal gives the company a strong ally in CVC as it expands globally.