South Korean discount chain operator E-Mart said its cosmetics brand Scentence will enter the Saudi Arabian market next week, opening the brand’s first store outside Korea.


The 66-square-meter store will open inside Al Nakheel Mall, which is operated by Saudi Arabian retail giant Fawaz Alhokair in the capital city of Riyadh.

The store will have beauty products including facial serums, cleansers, hair and body care products and masks. The products will be identical to those sold in Korea. 

The company said it will focus on promoting various perfume products, considering perfume accounts for over 40 percent of Saudi Arabia’s local beauty market. 

Saudi Arabia’s beauty market has been growing at an average of 15 percent a year, according to E-Mart.

Exclusively for Saudi Arabian customers, the company said it will manufacture and sell 100-milliliter perfume vials, about twice bigger than average. 

“With continued expansion of the Middle Eastern beauty market, we expect the popularity of the K-beauty trend will help Scentence to post stable growth in Saudi Arabia,” said E-Mart official Jung Kyung-ah. 

Currently, there are 36 Scentence stores in Korea, after its launch in July 2016. 

(ddd@heraldcorp.com)