Innisfree to close North America retail stores

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
May 9, 2021

K-beauty brand Innisfree said on Friday that it will exit the North American market with the closing of its own retail stores beginning Saturday. 

According to The Korea Times, parent company AmorePacific first revealed plans to shutter stores in December. The company cited on-going disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic as a factor in its decision. Instead, the cosmetic giant said it will focus on the digitization of its brands this year.

The affordable beauty brand opened its first store in New York in September 2017, while it entered Canada with its first store opening in Toronto, in August 2019. Since launching in Canada, innisfree had opened four stores in Toronto with plans to open more stores in Vancouver. 

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“While our commitment to quality and serving our community remains the same, circumstances have changed over the past year and we anticipate that the health and safety risks of Covid-19 will be impacting our ability to deliver the right experience for the remainder of 2021 and beyond. In that challenging context, we unfortunately had to make the decision to close all Innisfree stores in Canada,” Innisfree said in a statement on its Canadian Instagram page. 

AmorePacific launched the Innisfree brand in 2002 and has since been recognized as a pioneer in sustainable skincare in Korea. The brand is loved for its key ingredients, sourced from Korea's pristine volcanic island of Jeju, which promotes healthy-looking and radiant skin, while remaining sustainable. 

It operates over 950 stores in Korea and over 1,770 stores across 17 different countries. The brand will continue to be available at Sephora stores across North America.