Landing International Founder Sarah Chung Park, eighth from left, rings the closing bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite with Ulta Beauty executives in New York, May 15. Courtesy of Landing International
For the hundreds of Korean cosmetics brands trying to break into the American market, the biggest barrier isn’t consumer demand — it is the dizzying labyrinth of Western retail logistics.
Landing International, a business-to-business technology and distribution platform founded in 2013, has quietly positioned itself as the essential gateway for that migration. By handling the complex supply chains and regulatory hurdles that often stall overseas brands, the company has successfully brought more than 225 Korean beauty and wellness labels to the aisles of corporate giants like Target, Walmart and Ulta Beauty.
To mark the category’s maturation from a digital subculture into a brick-and-mortar staple, Landing International’s chief executive Sarah Chung Park stood alongside executives from specialized beauty retailer Ulta Beauty to ring the Nasdaq closing bell in Times Square recently.
The ceremony capped off the inaugural National K-Beauty Week, a weeklong push from May 11 to 17 that transformed Ulta storefronts in New York, California, Georgia and Florida into pop-ups. Featuring targeted skincare consultations and interactive product demonstrations, the campaign served as a real-world validation of Landing’s distribution network, with promotional inventory selling out ahead of schedule across multiple states.
"The response from American consumers exceeded our expectations," Park said, noting that the company is already planning its next expansion.
With its cosmetics pipeline firmly established, Landing International is pivoting toward its next major growth levers by introducing the burgeoning "K-wellness" sector to the U.S. market later this year and expanding its global distribution footprint through military retail channels worldwide.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Source: Korea Times News
