Create
Create (그리에이트 / Grieate Hair Group) is a privately held Korean professional hair beauty manufacturer and multi-brand group founded in 1991, producing salon equipment (CREATE brand) and cosmetics (ATS, SOTE), distributing Moroccanoil in Korea, and selling the consumer now & than home-care line across 43 domestic branches, 40+ export countries, and offline retail.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1991
- HeadquartersBucheon, South Korea
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Create does
Create (그리에이트) is a privately held Korean professional hair beauty manufacturer and brand group operating as the Grieate Hair Group through three Korean corporations — ㈜그리에이트 (the principal/lead entity), ㈜르애쓰, and ㈜씨엠케이. Founded in December 1991 and headquartered in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with owned manufacturing factories in Bucheon and Gimpo (both in Gyeonggi-do), the group is one of the established Korean suppliers of professional salon equipment, having introduced Korea's first heat perm machine in the early 1990s and now operating 43 domestic branches and authorized dealers plus overseas distribution into approximately 40 countries since the 1997 Hong Kong export debut.
The company's offering is organized as a five-brand portfolio. The CREATE brand covers professional salon equipment (digital/setting perm machines, hood dryers and steamers, perm/curling irons, flat/volume irons, hair dryers including the brushless BLDC-motor Airflex dryer, and titanium-coated tools such as the Titanium Magic Mirror), underpinned by 30+ granted Korean patents and utility models covering heating-plate design, far-infrared emission, steam/plasma systems, and rotating electrode structures. The ATS brand supplies salon-grade cosmetics across color, perm, clinic, styling, scalp, support, and care lines (including the damage-severity-segmented ATS Max P1/R1/N1/MC perm series); SOTE is the technical-effects brand spanning scalp, hair, styling, perm, and color; now & than is the consumer home-care lifestyle brand extending the group's salon R&D into retail; and Moroccanoil is distributed in Korea under exclusive arrangement via "Royalty Salon" partner salons and the Create Mall. International compliance is maintained via KC, CE, PSE, and CB Scheme/IECEE certifications.
Create generates revenue through a hybrid model: one-time B2B equipment sales to hair salons via the 43-branch network; recurring sales of ATS/SOTE professional consumables through the same channel; royalties/margins from exclusive Korean Moroccanoil distribution; direct-to-consumer sales through the Create Mall (createmall.co.kr / createmall.kr) and offline retail (Shinsegae Duty Free, Ananti Cove, Japanese drugstores); paid Academy training courses (e.g., KRW 120,000 for iron perm basic, KRW 30,000–60,000 for master classes); and fee-based after-sales service through the A/S center (1-year warranty, 6 months for rods). Marketing is executed through brand-operated Instagram/YouTube/Facebook channels per label, in-house Magazine C, print advertising, and trade press coverage. No revenue, funding, or headcount figures are disclosed in the available data.
Create firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Create
- Legal name
- ㈜그리에이트 (CREATE.Co.,Ltd.)
- Website
- https://create.co.kr
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1991
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Create (그리에이트 / Grieate Hair Group) is a privately held Korean professional hair beauty manufacturer and multi-brand group founded in 1991, producing salon equipment (CREATE brand) and cosmetics (ATS, SOTE), distributing Moroccanoil in Korea, and selling the consumer now & than home-care line across 43 domestic branches, 40+ export countries, and offline retail.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Create industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Professional Salon Equipment & Hair Care Cosmetics
- NAICS
- Soap and Cleaning Compound Manufacturing (32561), Beauty Salons (812112)
- SIC
- Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations (2844)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Professional Hair Care (Shampoo, Conditioner, Treatments) (CRABALAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Hair Care (Shampoo, Conditioner, Styling, Treatments) (CRADANAE)
Keywords
Where Create is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bucheon
- HQ country
- South Korea
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices5 records
Markets served
Create business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Professional salon equipment manufacturing and sales: Manufacture and sale of professional beauty devices — digital & setting perm machines, hood dryers & steamers, perm & styling irons, flat & volume irons, and dryers — under the CREATE brand. Revenue is generated through one-time equipment sales to hair salons via 43 nationwide branches and authorized dealers.
- Salon cosmetics manufacturing and sales: Manufacture and sale of salon-grade cosmetics under the ATS brand (color, perm, clinic, styling, scalp, support, and care lines) and SOTE brand, distributed to professional salons through the same branch network.
- Overseas brand distribution (Moroccanoil): Authorized distribution of Moroccanoil hair & body products in Korea, with sales through the online mall and exclusive "Royalty Salon" partner salons contracted with the Moroccanoil brand.
- Consumer brand sales (now & than): Direct sales of the now & than consumer hair & body care lifestyle brand through the corporate shopping mall (createmall.co.kr / createmall.kr), Shinsegae Duty Free, Ananti Cove, Villa de Ananti hotels, and a Kakao Talk gift-giving channel.
- Professional education and training (Academy): Paid training courses delivered at the Create Hair Art Center and 43 nationwide branches covering iron perm basic, men's iron perm, perm master class, volume magic master, and ambassador special lectures, with coupon-based or cash tuition payments.
- After-sales service and parts: Paid after-sales servicing of Create equipment via the A/S center and branch pickup-and-return logistics, with component cost + labor + (where applicable) travel charges. Warranty is 1 year for all products except rods (6 months); out-of-warranty service is fee-based.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Iron perm basic course (아이롱 펌 basic) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Iron perm men's course (아이롱 펌 man's) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Perm Master Class (펌 마스터 클래스) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Volume Magic Master one-day course (볼륨 매직 master) |
Go-to-market motion5 records
Distribution channels8 records
Marketing channels10 records
Create product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Create manufactures and distributes professional salon equipment (perm machines, irons, hood dryers, steamers, brushless BLDC dryers) under the CREATE brand and salon hair care cosmetics under the ATS, SOTE, and now & than brands, with exclusive Korean distribution of the Moroccanoil hair and body care brand. Offerings are sold to hair salons through 43 nationwide branches and authorized dealers, to end consumers through the company's Create Mall e-commerce site and offline retail partnerships, and exported through overseas distributors into approximately 40 countries.
Product overview
Create (그리에이트 / Create Hair Group, 주식회사 그리에이트, 주식회사 르에쓰, 주식회사 씨앰케이) is a multi-brand hair beauty platform-plus-portfolio company. The offering is organized as a platform of brands rather than a single software product: the proprietary CREATE brand provides professional salon equipment (perm machines, irons, dryers, steamers), the ATS brand is the professional hair-care cosmetics line, the SOTE brand is the technical hair-care line, the now & than (나우앤댄) brand is the home-care lifestyle line for consumers, and Moroccanoil is the overseas brand Create distributes in Korea. The CREATE brand anchors the platform with manufacturing expertise (in-house factory, 30+ patents) while ATS, SOTE, now & than, and Moroccanoil constitute the modular brand portfolio distributed through 43 domestic branches, an online mall (createmall), and global exports to 40+ countries.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CREATE: Grieate's flagship salon hair beauty equipment brand, positioned as the "No.1 salon equipment" brand in Korea, covering digital/setting perm machines, hood dryers, irons, and dryers.
- ATS
- SOTE
- now & than (나우앤댄)
- Moroccanoil
Products and services
- CREATE Professional Salon Equipment Create's flagship professional salon-equipment brand, positioned as the No.1 salon equipment brand in Korea. The line includes digital and setting perm machines, perm and styling irons, flat and volume irons, hood dryers and steamers, plasma dual mist steamers, titanium-coated tools, hair dryers, and the brushless BLDC-motor Airflex dryer, sold to professional hair salons through 43 nationwide branches and authorized dealers.
- ATS Professional Hair Care Cosmetics
Quantifiable outcome
- Exports products to approximately 40 countries (USA, France, Germany, Japan, China, Singapore, Vietnam, etc.) since the 1997 Hong Kong debut.
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Create
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Create technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature15 records
Create partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, minor and core.
- Moroccanoil (모로칸오일)flagshipExclusive Korean distribution partnership for the Moroccanoil hair and body care collection, including Hair Collection (treatment, shampoo, conditioner, mask, styling, brushes) and Body Collection (treatment, body lotion, scrub, butter, cleansing bar, shower gel, candle). Create hosts the dedicated Moroccanoil section on its shopping mall and operates "Royalty Salon" partner salons that contract directly with the Moroccanoil brand. Moroccanoil is one of the five core brands in Create's brand portfolio.
- Wadiz (와디즈)minorCreate used the Wadiz Korean crowdfunding platform as the public launch channel for its now & than Deep Repair Hair Milk, before rolling the product out to its own shopping mall and to Japanese drugstores and variety shops.
- Shinsegae Duty Free (신세계면세점)coreOffline retail partnership stocking now & than consumer hair care products in the Incheon Airport T2 store (December 2024) and the Centum City store, exposing the brand to international travelers and Korean duty-free shoppers as part of Create's global consumer-brand expansion strategy.
- Ananti Cove (아난티코브) and Villa de Ananti (빌라주드아난티)coreHospitality retail partnership in Busan stocking now & than consumer hair care products in Ananti Cove and Villa de Ananti offline stores, extending Create's offline reach to younger regional consumers.
- Korea Testing Laboratory (KTL, 한국산업기술시험원)coreCreate holds KC (Electrical Appliance Safety Certification) marks issued by KTL after performance, safety, and factory audits against KTL technical standards and ISO/IEC/EN international standards, required for distribution of electrical salon equipment in Korea.
- European Union Notified Body and IECEE (CB Scheme) certification bodiescoreCreate's salon equipment carries the CE Mark issued by an EU Notified Body (confirming conformity with EU directives for distribution in EU member states), Japan PSE certification, and the international CB Scheme / IECEE certification recognizing that products satisfy IEC standards for participating countries.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Create competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Dyson: Premium consumer and professional hair tools including the Supersonic and Airwrap lines. Comparable as a salon-grade hair dryer and styling-tool competitor with strong brand and technology positioning, but operates at much larger scale globally.
- Babyliss Pro: Global professional hair tool brand under Conair, offering irons, dryers, and styling tools. Comparable to CREATE on product category (hair irons, dryers) and stylist-targeted B2B distribution, though much larger and broader in geographic reach.
- Wahl: Global manufacturer of professional clippers, trimmers, and hair styling tools sold into the salon channel. Comparable to CREATE's hardware portfolio on professional-channel distribution and category breadth, but with a global brand and broader product set.
Others
- AmorePacific: Largest Korean beauty conglomerate with both salon/professional and consumer brands. Comparable on K-beauty export scale and multi-brand portfolio structure, though AmorePacific is far larger, publicly listed, and not focused on salon equipment.
- Moroccanoil: Globally distributed argan-oil hair and body care brand, distributed in Korea exclusively by Create under a licensing/distribution partnership. Not a competitor but the principal licensor and a strategic relationship; comparable on product portfolio overlap (treatments, masks, styling, body care).
- LG Household & Health Care: Major Korean beauty and household care conglomerate with salon-channel haircare brands. Comparable on Korean professional haircare category presence and global K-beauty export footprint, though it operates at significantly larger scale across diversified categories.
- Henkel (Schwarzkopf Professional): Global professional haircare brand under Henkel sold through salons worldwide. Comparable on the salon-channel haircare side (color, perm, treatment) overlapping with Create's ATS and SOTE product ranges, though Henkel operates at much larger global scale.
Direct peers
- Turbo Power: Italian manufacturer of professional salon hair dryers and styling tools. Comparable to CREATE's hood dryers, steamers, and Airflex BLDC dryer line on professional-grade hardware and salon-channel distribution.
- Takara Belmont: Japanese manufacturer of professional salon equipment, including perm machines, dryers, and styling tools with global distribution. Closely comparable to CREATE's equipment portfolio in both product range and salon-channel go-to-market.
- Taeyoung Industrial (대영산업): Korean manufacturer of professional salon equipment (perm machines, hair irons, dryers). Directly competes with the CREATE brand across the same Korean B2B salon channel and product categories, making it the closest domestic comparable.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights8 records
Customer concentration
Create social profiles
Digital presenceCreate compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Create financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Create leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Create subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Create funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Create M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Create
What does Create do?
Create manufactures and distributes professional salon equipment (perm machines, irons, hood dryers, steamers, brushless BLDC dryers) under the CREATE brand and salon hair care cosmetics under the ATS, SOTE, and now & than brands, with exclusive Korean distribution of the Moroccanoil hair and body care brand. Offerings are sold to hair salons through 43 nationwide branches and authorized dealers, to end consumers through the company's Create Mall e-commerce site and offline retail partnerships, and exported through overseas distributors into approximately 40 countries.
Is Create a public or private company?
Create is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Create founded?
Create was founded in 1991.
Where is Create based?
Create is headquartered in Bucheon, South Korea, in the Asia region.
How does Create make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Professional salon equipment manufacturing and sales are the primary driver. The others are salon cosmetics manufacturing and sales, overseas brand distribution (Moroccanoil), consumer brand sales (now & than), professional education and training (Academy) and after-sales service and parts.
Who are Create's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Dyson, Babyliss Pro and Wahl. Others are AmorePacific, Moroccanoil, LG Household & Health Care and Henkel (Schwarzkopf Professional). Direct peers are Turbo Power, Takara Belmont and Taeyoung Industrial (대영산업).
Does Create have an API?
No public API is recorded for Create.
What industry is Create in?
Create's product category is Professional Salon Equipment & Hair Care Cosmetics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRABALAB, Professional Hair Care (Shampoo, Conditioner, Treatments), with a secondary code of CRADANAE, Hair Care (Shampoo, Conditioner, Styling, Treatments). Its NAICS code is 32561 and its SIC code is 2844.