Jennie-promoted Hera opens first store in Thailand

Amorepacific's luxury makeup brand Hera expands to Thailand, capitalizing on the popularity of Korean beauty with plans for pop-ups and online sales through Lazada and other platforms.

A promotional event takes place at Hera's first store in Bangkok's Central Chidlom. [AMOREPACIFIC]

Amorepacific, Korea’s leading cosmetics manufacturer, is bringing its high-end makeup brand Hera to Thailand, tapping into the notable growth of Korean beauty companies in the region.

It opened the first Hera store at Central Chidlom, a department store in Bangkok.

The Seoul-based unit will open a pop-up for Hera, whose best-selling items include its Black Cushion Foundation, at Siam Paragon in September with follow-up plans to sell in Sephora and Eveandboy stores.

When it comes to online malls, Lazada has already sold Hera items since July while Shopee and TikTok Shop will deal in soon, Amorepacific said Tuesday in a statement.

The primary products sold in Thailand will be compact cushion foundations and lipsticks.

As popular as Hera is in Korea, Amorepacific has been selective in choosing overseas markets.

Thailand is the second overseas country with a Hera store, following the brand’s entry into Japan last year.

Amorepacific’s other cosmetics brands such as Sulwhasoo, Laneige and Innisfree are already present in the Southeast Asian country.

The Korean cosmetics company is active in finding new markets to ease its heavy reliance on China, its biggest market, as Chinese consumers increasingly pare spending on non-Chinese retailers.

On the other hand, markets including those of Japan, North America and Southeast Asian countries including Thailand and Malaysia are growing as K-pop drives the popularity of Korean makeup looks in the regions.

Korea became the top exporter of cosmetics products to Thailand in the first quarter of 2024, topping France, according to Global Trade Atlas. It ranked second last year with France claiming the top spot.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]