I added another Photo Tour to my NYC Chinatown K-Beauty Shopping Guide! I know the post title is a little confusing – is this an Amore or Aritaum store visit? And since when is there an Aritaum in NYC?!!?! Aritaum is owned by Amore Pacific, the beauty conglomerate in Korea. Think of it as the LVMH behemoth that owns practically 80% of the luxury and mid-level beauty market *don’t quote me on that percentage. Amore carries Amore Pacific’s sub-brands like Sulwhasoo, Laneige, IOPE, Mamonde and of course some Aritaum products. Sadly, the Amore Pacific line can only be found it at Sephora or Bergdorf Goodman’s. Amore is a great testing ground if you’re interested in pH stripping, gift set ogling or color swatching that BB cushion you have your eyes on. Click to see my photo tour!
Getting There/Location
Amore
7 Catherine St.
New York, NY 10038
212-226-8229
Amore is a little farther away from the Canal St are where oo35mm, Nature Republic, The Yeon and New Kam Man are located but the trek is worth it if you’re after access to a variety of products from Sulwhasoo, IOPE and Laneige. I’ve added this location to my NYC Chinatown K-Beauty Map so you can see where it is in relation to the other k-beauty hot spots.
Amore seems to be a franchise chain so expect inconsistent service and product offerings across different locations. In some locations, you’ll see them under the Aritaum name but in the United States, most are under the Amore operation name. There’s a USA Aritaum website where you can look up more locations near you!
To find Catherine St, you need to basically find the Confucius Statue located on the intersection of Division Street and Bowery Street. You will see a Gong Cha bubble tea spot on 1 Division St and Catherine St. is along that side.
Amore is across the street from another bubble tea spot called Vivi (hot pink signage) and also in the same building as Golden Unicorn, a popular dim sum place. Make sure you stop by after eating!
Photo Tour – Inside Amore/Aritaum Store in Chinatown, NYC
First thing you’ll notice is probably the sheet mask racks displayed in the window and the table of clearance items outside (hair coloring, cheapie sheet masks that are about to expire).
Sheet masks here aren’t bad, there’s usually a Buy 10 Get X Free. Aritaum branded masks on the left rack and Mamonde sheet masks on the right.
Aritaum sheet masks @ $1.50 each or Buy 10 get 2 Free (10+2).
Store layout from the entrance.
Free gift display from IOPE, looks like it’s a deluxe sample set when you buy an IOPE BB Cushion? This store isn’t good at keeping displays in check or having products in stock.
Sulwhasoo TIMETREASURE, Concentrate Ginseng and Essential Balancing lines.
Sulwhasoo Snowise EX, Hydro Aid and BB Cushions
Sulwhasoo BB CUSHIONS!
Closeup: Sulwhasoo Snowise, Hydro Aid and what looks like individual ampoules on the right.
Sulwhasoo Essential Balancing line
Sulwhasoo TIMETREASURE boxed gift sets and individual products on top. Concentrated Ginseng line second shelf.
Laneige shelf is a window that faces inside the building where Golden Unicorn is also located in.
IOPE Wall
IOPE BB Cushions primed for swatching. They also have the blush cushions too!
More IOPE cushion testers, the smaller ones are blush cushions.
More IOPE face base and foundation testers.
Umm, don’t know what’s going on here with the empty Laneige lipstick display.
Plenty of Mamonde lippies here. The Laneige Silk Intense Lipsticks are on the second row.
Mamonde foundations, cushions and eye shadows.
Some IOPE mascaras ($30), blush/highlighters, eye brow pacts and Laneige The Secret Snow Crystal eye shadow quad.
Laniege boxed gift sets and Ryo hair care shampoo and conditioner sets.
More Sulwhasoo gift sets up close. Bath and hair care underneath.
Sheet mask section: Dewy Tree, Mediental, Mediheal, SNP, It’s Skin Prestige line, Leader’s, and then some. You can buy just one to try out without committing to an entire box.
More sheet masks, facial mists and cotton puffs. My Beauty Diary boxes at $11 each.
Darkness false eye lashes.
Finally there are miscellaneous things like beauty tools, replacement BB cushion puffs, a few My Scheming sheet mask boxes (but they look old), and the Aritaum MODI nail polishes near the cashier counter.
There pictures were taken over the summer and since then they now stock the Aritaum Honey Melting Lip Tints. The makeup section still look bare.
Store Experience/Customer Service
The sales associates speak proficient English but they won’t be helpful if you don’t show intention to buy anything. They will leave you alone and not “follow” you throughout a store if you’re afraid of getting stalked like in other Asian-run stores (following you and telling you about products is a way to show good customer service). They are mainly Mandarin and Fujinese speaking since this store is placed around the corner of East Broadway where it’s predominantly Fujinese and serves the local community.
When asked questions about a product, I just get short answers but no further consultation to see if a product will actually fit my needs. It’s like they don’t really care if you buy something or not. I really don’t get any appreciation for shopping here. There’s no “hello” or “thank you for shopping here!” They’ll put your things in a bag and simply ring up the next customer. The only reason why I recommend coming here is simply because of the brands they carry and the ability to smell, touch and test products before committing to buy. I don’t have loyalty to this store and would probably just order online if another retailer has the right incentive. If I buy a lot, I might get a different tune but I shouldn’t need to buy a ton in order to receive good customer service.
Samples
Amore won’t give you any samples for small purchases. I’m not sure if they have anything if you buy past a certain threshold but the gift sets already come with deluxe samples and it depends if they have any store-wide gift with purchase specials.
Takeaways
While oo35mm, The Yeon and Everyday Beauty will have some items from these brands, Amore carries the fullest collections. I would come here to feel fancy, especially for gift set buying and trying sheet masks individually. Where they lack in makeup, they compensate for the variety in skincare. Their store experience can use a lot of improvement but at least I can roam around without pressure to buy (and take pictures for this post!).
I walked by it yesterday and there was new signage on Buy 1 Get 1 Free hand lotion or lip balm (ooh!) and a Ryo Hair Oil gift with $90 purchase promotion. Interestingly the bottom of the sign says “ARITAUM, AMORE has a new name”. Looks like they are trying to shift all Amore store operations to a consistent name brand. I hope this also means that the store offerings and customer service improves with the store name transition.
Comment Below!
Have you visited this store or chain in your city? What do you think of their store experience? What did you get in your k-beauty haul? Do share!
I would love to visit a store like that! Unfortunately I don’t think we have anything like that in my country. The empty shelves do look a bit sad & neglected, though!
Author
Yes, the stock can use a little (well, a lot) of TLC but mostly the customer service needs to be improved! It’s lovely going in to swatching things yourself! For now, just get foil samples to see what you really like!