APR's beauty brand MediCube is expanding offline distribution in North America as it rolls out sequentially to Target and Walmart stores in the United States. APR said on Tuesday it completed MediCube's placement in more than 1,500 Target stores in April and plans to expand to about 3,000 Walmart stores in June. With the new placements added to its offline network centered on Ulta Beauty, its offline touchpoints in the United States are expected to increase by several times from current levels.

At Target and Walmart stores, MediCube will be operated as a dedicated display. Products include Zero Pore Pad, Collagen Gel Cream, Collagen Night Wrapping Mask and PDRN Pink Collagen Gel Mask, among other key lines. APR plans to use the placements to expand its U.S. distribution structure, previously built around online sales, into offline channels and diversify consumer touchpoints in the local market.

According to the company, MediCube saw sales rise about 30 percent within three months after entering Ulta Beauty in August last year, and increased demand led to an additional special order in September. Online, it has maintained a top position among bestsellers in Ulta Beauty's skincare category. On Amazon, 6 products were included in the top 100 bestsellers in the beauty category as of the third week of May.

APR said its overseas sales last year grew more than threefold from a year earlier. The United States accounted for 37 percent of total sales last year, and U.S. sales in the first quarter rose 250 percent from a year earlier, expanding its share of total sales to 42 percent. Compared with 2023, U.S. sales grew more than eightfold in about three years.

An APR official said, "Through a strategy that runs online and offline channels in parallel, we will continue to expand not only our existing online-focused customers but also new customer segments within offline distribution channels." The official added, "Based on MediCube's growth trend, which has shown a high increase in search volume among K-beauty brands over the past year based on Google Trends, we plan to further strengthen our presence in the U.S. market."