CJ Olive Young said on Thursday it has established its first local logistics base, the U.S. West Center, in Bloomington, California.

The center is Olive Young’s first logistics facility in North America. It comes ahead of the opening of an Olive Young U.S. offline store in May, in what is seen as strengthening its local retail competitiveness. Olive Young plans to expand the West Center in stages in line with future increases in cargo volumes.

The U.S. West Center spans about 3,600 square metres. It will serve as a logistics hub for K-beauty products that are distributed across North America via Olive Young.

The company plans to use the logistics infrastructure to support brands that enter its local stores. It will provide direct and indirect support across local logistics, including customs clearance, inventory storage and delivery. It expects this will reduce burdens on brands. For brands that lack their own delivery infrastructure, it will also provide logistics support for non-product areas such as marketing fixtures and display materials.

For brands that enter K-beauty zones in Sephora stores in North America, it will provide an end-to-end service that takes responsibility for the entire logistics process. Olive Young has previously signed a partnership with Sephora, the world’s largest beauty distribution channel. In August, it plans to introduce a curated "K-beauty zone" on Sephora’s online and offline channels.

The company plans to expand the West Center in stages depending on cargo volumes. It also plans to complete a logistics infrastructure covering North America through a multi-hub system, including securing logistics bases in the eastern region in line with changes in local demand.

An Olive Young official said, "It is meaningful in that we have built a core logistics network that can respond stably to demand for K-beauty ahead of the opening of the local store in May." The official added, "Based on this, we will strengthen our local retail competitiveness while actively supporting promising K-beauty brands’ entry into the North American market."