• 2021-05-21
  • 阅读量:5544
  • 来源|CBO
  • 作者|Li Jianzi

Covid-19 speeds up closure of Innisfree stores.

According to The Korea Times, Amorepacific, a South Korean beauty and cosmetics conglomerate, announced on May 7 the decision to close all Innisfree stores in North America on May 8. Innisfree Canada saidon its Instagram that Covid-19 is the main cause of the channel adjustment but it would continue its sales at Sephora.

The report also said Innisfree would close about 170 stores in China.




Innisfree, once a quality affordable beauty & cosmetics brand, flowed into China with a South Korean wave in 2012. According to partial statistics it opened 100 stores in China from 2012 to 2014, expanded quickly from tier-1 coastal cities to tier-2&3 inland cities by opening 100 stores annually afterwards, and they owned over 600 stores in China at its peak.

Innisfree opened its largest flagship store in Asia in Shanghai in 2015, inviting South Korean star Lee Min Ho to attend the opening event. The company noted its success in China in its financial report, posting sales of 1 billion yuan in China in 2015.

The South Korea wave has been falling amid strained relations between China and South Korea since the "THAAD incident" in 2017, leading to a business plunge of Innisfree which closed 40 money-losing Chinese stores in 2019 and at least 90 stores in 2020.

According to a financial report of Amorepacific, Innisfree suffered a sharp decline in 2020, with its revenues sliding by 37% to KRW 348.6 billion (approximately 2 billion RMB) and its profit dropping deeply by 89% to KRW 700 million (approximately 4.03 million RMB). The situation was also grim for Amorepacific's other popular brands like Espoir, Aestura and Amos Professional, which registered a 9%, 11% and 19% revenue decline respectively.

Amorepacific is reportedly adjusting its strategy by making a switch from offline to online. Etude House under Amorepacific has recently closed all its offline direct sales stores in China, with The Colorist left as its only offline channel.

Innisfree has been troubled by accusations since 2021. In April 2021 it was accused of "green washing" for selling a beauty product covered with a "Hello, I'm Paper Bottle" label that contains plastic. According to 
The Korea Herald, a consumer filed acomplaint against the mentioned product's so-called "green washing" labeling.

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