Artbox to Reach 68 Overseas Stores by Year-End as Foreign Shoppers Drive Sales

Artbox plans to expand its overseas store count to 68 by year-end from 57 across seven countries, as the South Korean stationery chain reported revenue more than doubled to 269.7 billion won in 2025. Naver reported the expansion plans on October 31, 2026.

Artbox's Overseas Push and Store Growth

Artbox now runs 236 stores in South Korea, passing its 100th store in 2019 and its 200th last year. The chain opened its first design stationery store in 1984 under Samsung Publishing and spun off as its own company two years later. It sells character goods and household novelties alongside stationery, with products featuring homegrown characters accounting for about 60 percent of its roughly 20,000 items.

Foreign visitors generate about 80 percent of sales at outlets including Myeong-dong and Hongdae in Seoul, as well as stores in Gangnam, Seongsu-dong, Busan and Jeju Island. Tax-refund purchases rose about 40 percent in July from a year earlier to 62,082 transactions, according to the company. Purchases by Japanese visitors roughly doubled, while those by Taiwanese and American shoppers climbed 53 percent and 28 percent on-year, respectively.

"Character goods have become the touchpoint that draws foreign customers into our stores," an Artbox official said, adding that around 70 percent of its customers are in their 20s and 30s.

Overseas, Artbox works with local partners through standalone shops, shop-in-shops and pop-ups. Its downtown flagship in Ulaanbaatar topped every Artbox store worldwide in daily sales over its August opening weekend. A pop-up in Almaty, Kazakhstan, drew about 34,000 visitors on opening day in September. At its Los Angeles pop-up in early October, K-pop girl group Illit, global ambassadors for Artbox, made an appearance.

Artbox's POOM Marketplace and Membership

According to akta.pro company records, Artbox operates POOM as a multi-brand marketplace hosting third-party sellers including Sanrio, Kakao Friends, Hello Kitty, DuoBack and Colgate, with commission-based revenue alongside first-party product sales. The company also runs the POOM+ subscription membership program and a proprietary payment service called ARTBOX Pay integrated into the POOM storefront. ARTBOX maintains native mobile applications on both the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.

How Artbox's US Expansion Took Shape

Artbox opened its first U.S. pop-up at 8250 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles on October 3, 2026, running through October 11, with Illit and interactive zones, Third News reported. Chain Store Age reported on October 23 that Artbox selected CBRE to represent it in U.S. expansion, targeting the West Coast, with CBRE's Steven Chon and Sofi Choi leading leasing efforts. Yahoo reported on October 26 that Illit, Artbox's first brand ambassadors, attended the Los Angeles pop-up to greet fans and help with a giveaway.

What Comes Next for Artbox

Artbox plans to reach 68 overseas stores by year-end, including permanent U.S. locations on the West Coast. The company is eyeing permanent stores there with CBRE as its exclusive property partner, according to industry sources cited by Naver.