Little America in Korea,
Itaewon Beauty Supply in front of Pyeongtaek US Military Base
We headed to Osan Air Base to visit Itaewon Beauty Supply in South Korea. Osan Air Base, while named after the city of Osan, is actually located in Pyeongtaek, and is sometimes simply called Pyeongtaek US Military Base. Itaewon Beauty Supply is also located in Pyeongtaek. With its low-rise buildings, signs in English, and typical American colors, it feels like you airlifted a beauty supply store from a city in the U.S. It’s more than just a place to buy things. It’s a place that offers products that Americans abroad desperately need, and it’s a place where Korean and American ways coexist. Together making it an interesting place on its own. We interviewed Yurim Kang, who runs three beauty supply stores in Korea with her mother and sister and talked about the little America in Korea.
The store is called Itaewon Beauty Supply, but it’s not in Itaewon, right?
We used to be in Itaewon. We ran the Itaewon place in Yongsan from 2014 to 2021. With the relocation of the US military base in Yongsan, we eventually moved to Pyeongtaek and opened an off-base store in 2019 here in Pyeongtaek International Central Market. We currently operate stores at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek and Camp Walker in Daegu, along with this off-base store in Pyeongtaek.
You’re still young in your 30s. How long have you been running the business? I understand you used to work at a company.
When I was working at a company in Seoul, I used to help out at my mom’s Itaewon store whenever I could. When we moved down to Pyeongtaek, I took it over, and it’s been five years now. I’m more satisfied now than when I had a job with no open ending (laughs).
What’s different compared to the Yongsan store?
When we were in Yongsan, we had a wide range of customers. There were teachers, tourists, and people from out of town. But it’s mainly people who live here, mostly military personnel and their families. I have a fixed pool of customers.
Weren’t your regulars at Itaewon sad to see your store go?
They sometimes visit us from Seoul, and they often have items delivered. You know, that’s how it’s done these days. A customer I met in Yongsan who had been coming to the store since she was in her 20s dropped by with her kids, and many just come by during the holidays when other stores are closed. I also do personal favors for my regulars and help them out as much as I can. They often ask for something like ticketing for a train, and I sometimes become a translator, like when they have a hard time communicating with a taxi driver. We tend to provide generous services to customers who come often or buy a lot. When we ask customers to try a new product or something they haven’t tried before, like a spray or gel, some of them end up purchasing it later because they like it.
For customers living in a foreign country, you can provide psychological support like a local friend. It’s a silly question, but there’s always a bad customer, right?
Just like beauty supplies in the States, we are dealing with difficulties due to the online market. Some customers want us to match online prices, and others want to order products that they’ve seen online because they want to see them in person. We try to accommodate, but it’s hard when it’s a risky product to carry just based on a request.
You have multiple floors in your store.
The first and second floors are for sales, and the third floor is for storage of merchandise to replenish the sales floor. Because of the expensive rent in Korea, we can’t have big stores. On the other hand, we have to order goods in large quantities, so we use the third floor as a warehouse in addition to containers.
What products do you mainly carry?
We carry a wide variety of products, including men’s, women’s, wigs, braids, bundles, and more. In the summer, underwear is popular, so I make that section a little bigger. Other than that, we don’t make any significant changes to the display. For chemical products, I’m cautious because certain wording or ingredients can be problematic in Korea, even though they’re fine in the U.S. Some products come in with modified wording, and customers ask if it’s a knockoff because it’s slightly different from the original product. The wigs we call “uniform wigs,” which come in the most basic colors and styles, are the most popular items. Even after the restrictions on hairdos were largely lifted on the book, those who hold higher ranks or are of advanced age tend to follow the old rules.
I was a little surprised to see a door in the back of the store. Isn’t it vulnerable to theft?
There’s a patch shop and a jersey shop in the back alley, and that’s where a lot of our customers also shop. Since it’s glass, it can’t be used for shelves anyway, and the front side is on the main street leading to the Pyeongtaek International Central Market and the Pyeongtaek US military base. I often have a customer coming in while counting money (laughs). The theft rate is on par with a typical Korean store. It’s not high. However, it’s in front of a military base, so it’s not uncommon for soldiers who are drunk in the middle of the night to cause trouble. We had an incident the other day after we closed at 8p.m. When we opened in the morning, the entire glass facing the main street was cracked in multiple places from the top. We checked the security camera footage and identified a passerby who finished an energy drink and threw it over the side, which hit the store’s glass and broke it. If I reported it to the U.S. military, they could investigate and catch the culprit, but I wouldn’t feel good about a person getting a demotion or something like that, so I didn’t report it.
Is there anything unique about Itaewon Beauty Supply in terms of operations?
Our sales are entirely dependent on the schedule of US military units. When there’s a big drill, sales drop, but the upside is that military personnel living overseas have a cost-of-living allowance (COLA) that is paid in addition to their monthly salary. Overall, sales are decent, and like in the U.S., we do well during the holidays, especially Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
But there’s a challenge to not being in the U.S. Sometimes you have to pass on products that are readily available in the U.S., and sometimes customs clearance makes it hard to have a certain item on time. I’m used to it now, but in the early days, we had losses after items got stuck in the warehouse for country-of-origin labeling issues due to different laws and regulations. You also need to consider the exchange rate when placing orders, as it can affect the procuring price significantly. But we don’t want to miss out on an item for exchange rates, so we can’t simply wait untill the best time. It’s unpredictable, but it’s something we always consider.
There are many unexpected costs, such as containers, customs and logistics fees, exchange rates, and so on. How do you set your price?
I factor in my margins, and if we’re only a few dollars off the online price, I consider it a win. When new products come in, existing products go on sale.
How do I get new stuff?
Usually, it’s a recommendation from someone I know, but some reach out to us. We also had visitors.
What’s different now that you’re running your own business compared to when you worked at a company?
When I was a salaried worker, all I had to worry about was my schedule, but now I have more to do and more responsibilities. And I’m realizing that staffing is rather tough. Training a Korean individual takes quite a long time. There are many items that are unfamiliar to Koreans, so even after 6 months of working, an employee would struggle at work. A guest came back later and told me that the Korean employee kind of gave up on her, so she just left empty-handed. On the other hand, a non-Korean employee is not good at handling rush orders. We get a lot of last-minute calls from magazines and stylists who are looking for hair products. The last time I went to Busan on a business trip, I got a rush order for high-end human hair. I instructed an employee to send it via quick-service and thought I was a done deal, but I got a call saying they received a product that wasn’t 360. It’s not easy (laughs).
What’s the fun part of running a store?
It’s more fun to deal with people from different cultures than to deal with only Koreans. I’m close with the neighboring business owners, and most of them have been around for a long time, so I have a good relationship with them and enjoy working with them.
What about your stores in the Exchange? Is there anything special about it?
You pay a fee to the exchange to run it. It changes a bit depending on who’s in charge, but the merchandise and atmosphere are similar to what we have here. There are no special rules to follow but a general requirement is to keep the store clean and neat. The exchange carries its own chemicals. Their prices are often lower than ours. In that case, I tell the customer to buy it there.
What’s it like to work with your family?
It’s not easy (laughs). My mom has her own business know-how and her own priorities, which are often different from mine. But the fact remains that it’s an industry that’s been built by the generation before me, so I’m grateful to them for the experiences and opportunities they worked hard to get.
What are your future plans?
I don’t want to rest on my achievements, and I want to expand the business through new challenges and growth. We will continue to expand the diversity of our products and strive to better serve our customers.
