Global beauty company APR (CEO Kim Byung-hoon) is accelerating its North American offline retail expansion by sequentially listing its flagship brand MediCube at major US retailers Target and Walmart. According to an announcement on May 20, APR completed the listing of MediCube in over 1,500 Target stores in April and plans to expand to approximately 3,000 Walmart stores in June. This move, in addition to its existing offline presence at ULTA Beauty, is expected to multiply APR’s physical retail touchpoints in the US several times over. The company aims to diversify consumer access by shifting from an online-centric distribution model to a broader offline channel strategy. Major global retailers, including Target, are accelerating their focus on ‘prestige beauty,’ a premium skincare-driven market. In a recent interview, Target’s brand chief Amanda Nuss highlighted beauty as a core growth strategy and a central pillar of the company’s approximately $2 billion investment plan. APR’s entry aligns with this retail trend, making the expansion strategically significant. APR reported that after entering ULTA Beauty in August last year, MediCube’s sales volume increased by about 30% within three months, and consumer demand continued to grow, leading to a special additional order in September. This performance laid the groundwork for expanding into major offline retailers. At Target and Walmart, MediCube will be displayed on dedicated brand shelves, which is expected to boost brand awareness. Key products include Zero Pore Pad, Collagen Gel Cream, Collagen Night Wrapping Mask, and PDRN Pink Collagen Gel Mask.
Alongside offline expansion, MediCube continues to perform well in key online channels. It consistently ranks among the top bestsellers in ULTA Beauty’s online skincare category, and as of the third week of May, six MediCube products were listed in Amazon’s Beauty Top 100 bestsellers. The stable performance of flagship items like Zero Pore Pad demonstrates the competitiveness of its product portfolio, driving overall sales growth. An APR representative stated, “By pursuing a strategy that combines online and offline channels, we will continue to expand our customer base from existing online shoppers to new customers in offline retail channels. Based on MediCube’s strong search volume growth among K-beauty brands on Google Trends over the past year, we plan to further strengthen our position in the US market.” APR’s overseas sales more than tripled year-on-year in the previous year, continuing its rapid global growth. The US market accounted for 37% of total sales last year, and in the first quarter of this year, US sales surged 250% year-on-year, raising its share to 42%. Compared to 2023, when the company was in the early stages of market entry, US sales have grown more than eightfold in about three years, reflecting robust growth in North America.
Source: Read the original report | Published: May 19, 2026