Blue Elephant, a producer of inexpensive eyewear made famous by K-pop idols in Korea, is bringing its frames to the states with a first store planned for Beverly Hills.
The Seoul-based maker of vintage-inspired frames has leased a 12,000-square-foot, two-story space at 300 N. Beverly Dr. in Beverly Hills in the Los Angeles area. The store — previously a Pottery Barn — is slated to open late next year and will anchor the brand's North American expansion, marking the latest sign of Korean fashion’s growing relevance around the globe.
Blue Elephant was founded in 2019 as a small online startup. It has since grown into a well-known store in Korea and Japan, where it has 25 locations with another nine on the way.
Its flagship stores in Seoul and Tokyo showcase the brand’s immersive retail style — part art gallery, part pop-culture playground — that it plans to replicate across major U.S. and European cities.
“Finding the right real estate is rarely easy, but when Blue Elephant toured 300 N. Beverly, they immediately recognized its unique potential and acted quickly to secure the space,” CBRE First Vice President Johnny Choi, who represented the retailer in the deal, told CoStar News. The site's "iconic visibility and placement in the heart of Beverly Hills perfectly align with Blue Elephant’s global growth strategy.”
Korean culture has made its way to stores and small screens in the U.S. Characters in Netflix’s hit series "KPop Demon Hunters" became this season’s most sought-after Halloween costumes, while K-pop group Katseye has a partnership with quick-service restaurant chain Jollibee, with merchandise, a special Korean BBQ Chicken menu item, and concert ticket giveaways.
Retailers like Sephora, Ulta and Nordstrom are adding "K-beauty" sections as Korean brands like Olive Young and Fwee open U.S. flagships.
While other expansions point to potential U.S. success for Blue Elephant, the company still faces competition from other retailers for well-located spaces.
Global fanbase
Eyewear has been one of the fastest-growing apparel categories in the U.S. in recent years. Retail sales for the segment are expected to climb by 7.4% between 2024 and 2030, according to Grand View Research.
Blue Elephant isn't the first Korean eyewear brand to go global with a network of planned stores. Another such retailer, Gentle Monster, opened its first U.S. stores in 2016 in New York City and Los Angeles before adding units from coast to coast. Gentle Monster now operates 80 global stores from Orange County, California, to Paramus, New Jersey.
Blue Elephant is considered a cheaper alternative to Gentle Monster and luxury European and Japanese eyewear brands, with prices that are roughly half of their rivals. Products include a pair of sunglasses with tortoiseshell frames and muted green lenses that will sell for about $70.
Blue Elephant frames have grown in popularity in part through sponsored deals on social media with K-pop stars, including J-Hope, a member of the chart-topping band BTS, and Soobin, lead singer of TXT, the first K-pop boy group to headline Lollapalooza, a major music festival in the United States. Those posts aim to boost engagement — and purchases — among customers.
Blue Elephant prefers to operate in high-foot-traffic urban districts like Tokyo's Harajuku, where it opened a two-level store last year. Rapid sales growth in recent years has positioned the brand to open roughly 30 locations globally by the end of this year, according to a profile of the company in The Asia Business Daily. Blue Elephant next plans to launch flagships in European cities in late 2026.
High-profile Beverly Drive
Blue Elephant's Los Angeles deal is one of the more notable recent leases in a cooling retail market, where availability has hovered near 6%, according to CoStar data. Retail tenants have returned about 1.5 million more square feet than they’ve leased in the past year — an improvement from the 2.8 million square feet of negative net absorption recorded a year earlier.
The Beverly Drive building that Blue Elephant will move into previously housed a Pottery Barn, which shuttered earlier this year as the chain downsized large-format stores to focus on e-commerce and smaller urban locations.
The high-profile corner at Beverly and Dayton drives has long been one of the most visible retail spots in Beverly Hills, a magnet for brands seeking exposure near Rodeo Drive, Choi said. A limited-liability company owns the property, along with the Rodeo Collection mixed-use complex nearby that's home to the House of Bijan and jeweler Bulgari.
Beverly Hills retail has faced softening demand this year, with vacancy rising to 8% from 7% a year earlier, according to CoStar data. That compares with a 4.3% national vacancy rate.
Still, developers are doubling down on new projects such as One Beverly Hills, a $10 billion botanical mixed-use complex anchored by Dolce & Gabbana and a high-end food market.
"The past few months have brought significant momentum for Beverly Hills," said a statement from Julie Wagner, chief executive officer of the Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau. That growth is "marked by ongoing re-investment into our hotels, the arrival of more acclaimed restaurants and dynamic cultural additions that reinforce the city's international reputation."
Blue Elephant is one of many global chains investing in Beverly Hills stores. Cartier, Dior and Patek Philippe have all upgraded their Rodeo Drive boutiques this year while Louis Vuitton's planned three-level, 45,000-square-foot store is working its way through the city planning department.
On Beverly Drive, retailers L’Agence, Tory Burch and Veronica Beard have opened flagship stores this year; athleisure brands G/FORE and Wilson will follow with openings later this year, according to Wagner.
For the record
CBRE's Choi represented the tenant, while CBRE's Houman Mahboubi, Gregory Briest and Marisa Scott-Renfro represented the landlord.