This photo captured from a Naver blog shows Shinsegae’s Twelve smoothie, left, placed next to an image of a popular Erewhon smoothie as online users compare the two. Captured from Naver blog
SEATTLE — Shoppers in the U.S. may not have set foot inside Shinsegae’s new luxury store Twelve, but photos circulating online have been enough to spark copycat claims. Much of the debate centers on the luxury store’s striking resemblance to Erewhon, the Los Angeles grocer that has become known as an ultra-premium name in wellness retail.
Images of Twelve’s sleek interiors, pastel-toned smoothies and wellness branding have spread quickly across Korean blogs and social media, with the conversation quickly reaching U.S. audiences familiar with Erewhon’s look and pricing.
Bloggers and online users argue that the similarities go beyond global trends, pointing instead to excessive parallels in concept, visual language and product mix.
“My first reaction was, ‘This is Erewhon,’” one blogger wrote, adding that the store’s overall mood and concept felt immediately familiar.
Much of the discussion has centered on Twelve’s smoothie bar, where brightly colored drinks priced at around 28,000 won ($20) quickly drew comparisons to Erewhon’s famously expensive offerings, particularly Erewhon’s best-known Strawberry Glaze Skin smoothie made popular by Hailey Bieber.
Images circulating online compare Shinsegae’s Twelve, left, with Los Angeles-based wellness grocer Erewhon, right, prompting discussions over visual and conceptual similarities. Captured from Instagram
On Instagram and TikTok, overseas users reacting to photos of the store were blunt.
“At least change the logo font. It looks exactly the same,” one commenter wrote on Instagram. Another wrote, “It’s embarrassing just looking at it.”
More serious discussions focused on broader concerns about copycat culture.
“Doesn’t a large corporation have any sense of pride?” wrote one California resident who recently visited Korea and shopped at Twelve, in a viral thread on MissyUSA, a popular online forum. “I even wondered if Erewhon signed a deal to open a franchise location in Korea because it was so alike.”
The reaction has struck a nerve partly because it comes at a moment when Korean culture is enjoying unprecedented global influence, from music and food to fashion and design.
“I would think Korean companies would try to come up with something original and branch out overseas, but it’s still the opposite,” wrote another user.
Many Koreans in the U.S. commonly agree that they admire and miss the retail scene in Korea.
“It’s obvious to people living abroad what the best parts of Korean retail are,” said Moon Ji-ae, an executive who works for a marketing firm specializing in K-beauty product launches in the U.S. “Companies need to assess their strengths and figure out a way to export that instead of the other way around.”