Rendering of MOIDA, the K-beauty curated retail store scheduled for completion in July. [Courtesy of Silicon2]

K-beauty distribution platform Silicon2 announced on the 18th that MOIDA, its K-beauty curated retail store, will open a large flagship store of 466 ㎡ (approx. 5,016 sq ft) on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France, next month.

Located in the heart of Europe's largest shopping avenue, which draws more than 100 million visitors a year, the store will be MOIDA's largest and the second K-beauty specialty flagship store in Paris.

The high growth potential of the French cosmetics market is behind the decision to open the store.

According to Silicon2, France has the highest share of cosmetics spending relative to per capita GDP in Europe, and its imports of Korean cosmetics have grown rapidly at an average annual rate of more than 25% over the past three years, making it a key consumer market for K-beauty.

More than 70% of visitors to the Champs-Élysées are international tourists, making it an ideal location for raising global brand awareness.

The company also believes the store will gain a significant first-mover advantage, as Paris currently has no K-beauty specialty flagship store.

The store will carry around 90 leading K-beauty brands in high demand in global markets, with more than 1,300 SKUs. The lineup includes COSRX (an Amorepacific affiliate), Medicube from APR, Dr.Elsia, SKIN1004, Beauty of Joseon, Purito Seoul, Nature Republic, Biodance, Celimax, Some By Mi, Haymishh, Anua, Centellian24, Jumiso, Zeroid, and Haruharu Wonder.

Starting with this opening, Silicon2 plans to hold large-scale local pop-up events for K-beauty brands in succession.

With "the Korean beauty experience" as its core concept, the Champs-Élysées store will operate with upgraded product assortment, store space, visual merchandising (VMD), and services overall compared with existing stores.

Going beyond a simple retail space, the store will continuously run pop-up events and customer-participation programs, and will be designed as an experiential complex where global tourists can directly experience K-beauty trends.

In the long term, the company aims to establish the store as Paris's leading K-beauty hub and a core platform in the French market.

MOIDA currently operates about 20 stores across five countries: three in the U.S., five in the U.K., one in France, one in Italy, and eight in Indonesia.

"We plan to open about 20 additional stores within this year, centered on key hub markets including these countries as well as Portugal, Germany, Spain, and Dubai," Silicon2 said. "We will accelerate our global expansion with the goal of securing more than 100 stores by 2027."