From Seoul to Birmingham: PURESEOUL selects Hammerson’s Bullring to kick off Midlands expansion

Hammerson has announced that PURESEOUL, the UK's premier K-Beauty store, is to open at Bullring & Grand Central, marking the brand’s Midlands debut and only its second store outside London. Set to launch in September, this significant signing underscores Hammerson's strategy to broaden the use and purpose of its destinations through innovative brands, market first concepts and cultural partnerships.  

Located on Bullring’s middle level, PURESEOUL’s 800 sq ft store will offer over 900 different types of products across make-up, skincare, and hair care. The store will include exclusive collaborations with famous K-beauty names like Torriden, NEEDLY, Heveblue, and Beplain, showcasing one of the brand’s largest make-up collections to date with UK debuts from BBIA, Milk Touch and AOU.

Designed to reflect PURESEOUL’s captivating blue-hued ‘pure’ aesthetic, the Bullring store will feature a dedicated wall of over 60 different types of sheet masks and a TikTok display highlighting viral bestsellers from social media. Customers will also be able to enjoy personalised one-on-one skincare advice from staff specialising in Korean beauty.

Toby Tait, Director of Asset Management at Hammerson, commented: “We are continuing to broaden the use and purpose of Bullring & Grand Central and the introduction of PURESEOUL demonstrates how we are engaging our customers through regional-first brands. We’re going into autumn and winter with strong momentum and an exciting pipeline of high-profile new openings including Sephora, Zara and the first Blank Street Coffee in the Midlands.”

Leslie Tang, CEO of PURESEOUL, added: “Birmingham is our second biggest market in the UK, despite not having a physical presence up to now, so opening a store in a leading location has long been a strategic goal. We knew we needed a high-profile, impressive space for our regional debut, and we have that and more in Bullring & Grand Central. This is a major milestone for PURESEOUL, and we are eager to open our doors, giving our Korean beauty lovers across the Midlands a permanent space to shop their favourite K-beauty products.”

The signing of PURESEOUL follows the announcement that LVMH-owned beauty brand Sephora is set to open its sixth UK store in Bullring in November, alongside a newly upsized Zara. New openings this year include immersive football concept TOCA Social, Swiss watchmaker, Swatch, global footwear specialists Clarks and Instagram bakery phenomenal Cinnabon.