Popular cosmetics company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The U.S. cosmetics manufacture has faced increasing contention from the Korean cosmetics marketplace since 2020, arsenic the Asian country's products person grown successful popularity.

As Korean merchandise income person risen, definite American quality companies person battled economical issues, successful immoderate cases filing for bankruptcy protection.

A U.S.-based institution selling Korean cosmetics products, Pine Cosmetic Inc., is adjacent having difficulties, starring it to bankruptcy court.

New York-based cosmetics and quality institution Pine Cosmetic Inc., which specializes successful high-quality Korean skincare products, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to PacerMonitor, with plans to reorganize its business.

Pine Cosmetic files for bankruptcy

The debtor, which operates Pine Beauty Mall, LeBody USA, La Noubelle, Somisome, and the Daly Glow brands, filed its petition successful the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York connected July 17, listing $100,000 to $500,000 successful assets and $1 cardinal to $10 cardinal successful debts.

The cosmetics company, which was incorporated successful August 2013, plans to reorganize and restructure its debts, according to a idiosyncratic who answered the company's telephone connected July 17. The institution is operating arsenic normal, the unidentified idiosyncratic said. No circumstantial crushed was fixed for filing the petition.

The company's Pine Beauty Mall website is inactive operational arsenic of July 17.

Pine Cosmetic's largest unsecured creditors see Chase Bank, owed implicit $229,000; CESC-Covic EIDL Servicers, owed implicit $218,000; First Bank, owed $150,000; TD Bank, owed implicit $132,000; Forward Financing LLC, owed implicit $122,000; Lendistry, owed implicit $107,000; and PayPal, owed implicit $55,000, according to tribunal documents.

Korean cosmetics summation popularity

The Korean cosmetics manufacture has skyrocketed successful the U.S. since 2020, arsenic exports astir tripled from $641 cardinal successful 2020 to $1.91 cardinal successful 2024, according to Korean Economic Institute of America research. This rising inclination was worldwide, arsenic full Korean cosmetics exports roseate from $7.57 cardinal successful 2020 to $10.23 cardinal successful 2024.

Korea's largest cosmetics market, China, however, declined during that play from $3.81 cardinal successful 2020 to $2.5 cardinal successful 2024.

North America's emerging frontier

"This striking reversal reflects deeper dynamics successful planetary demand, wherever China erstwhile served arsenic the single-largest maturation motor for K-beauty, North America has present emerged arsenic a main frontier marketplace peculiarly for skincare," according to Korean Economic Institute of America.

Financial difficulties led Dallas-based Adwoa Beauty to record for Chapter 11 extortion successful October 2025 with a Subchapter V petition, seeking a reorganization to proceed operating. Adwoa subsequently converted the bankruptcy to Chapter 7 liquidation successful May 2026 aft a financing statement deteriorated and the institution could nary longer proceed to operate.