Larkin

What Larkin does

Larkin Inc. is a privately held import-export wholesale distributor headquartered in San Francisco, California, operating since 1977 with an 11–50 employee footprint. The company sells Asian health, beauty, personal care, air freshener, and cosmetics products through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront at larkin-us.com, powered by BigCommerce. Its catalog aggregates more than 30 brands across 13 categories, including Japanese hair color (Paon, Bigen, Hoyu), Taiwanese pain-relief patches (Sheng Chun, Salonpas, Mentholatum), Vietnamese medicated oils (Eagle Brand, BST), Malaysian and Vietnamese beverages (My Juice, Red Brand), Japanese bath and air-freshener lines (Earth Chemical, My Shaldan, Rabbico, Fresh Bottle), ginseng-based dietary supplements (Kinginseng, Gold Choice), and Asian facial skincare (Ly-Na, San Ing, San Ruby), with individual product prices ranging from approximately $3.99 to $339.95.

The business runs a multi-channel distribution model that combines a single-country domestic e-commerce storefront (larkin-us.com) with a wholesale/bulk-buying channel and a subscription option for recurring product delivery. Pricing is structured on unit pricing with volume discounts (for example, $0.20 off per unit at 3–5 packs scaling to $0.85 off per unit at 50+ packs on the SC Herbal Patch), and free shipping is offered within the USA on qualifying orders. Customer acquisition relies on organic search, a low-frequency email newsletter capped at four sends per year, and post-sale customer reviews rather than paid acquisition.

The company has no disclosed funding history, no parent company, no institutional ownership, and no management team contact details in the public source material. It is currently operating as an active e-commerce retailer with no app, API, AI/ML capabilities, patents, certifications, partnerships, or awards disclosed. Revenue, headcount trend, and ownership structure are not publicly reported, limiting external visibility into scale and growth.

Name

Larkin

Legal name

Larkin Inc.

Website

https://larkin-us.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Larkin Inc. is a privately held San Francisco-based importer and wholesale distributor (founded 1977) that sells Asian health, beauty, personal care, air freshener, and cosmetics products to US consumers via its BigCommerce-powered e-commerce storefront, supplemented by wholesale bulk orders and subscription delivery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Direct retail sales of Asian health, beauty, and lifestyle products to consumers through the larkin-us.com e-commerce platform. Products are offered at various price points with bulk discounts available for larger quantities.
2. Subscription Service: Subscription option available for recurring product deliveries, allowing customers to set up regular shipments of their preferred products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Larkin Inc. is an import-export wholesale distributor and online retailer of Asian health, beauty, personal care, and lifestyle products. The company curates and sells branded goods from established Asian manufacturers (e.g., Bigen, Paon, Eagle Brand, Gold Choice, Kinginseng, Earth Chemical, Meibo, Mentholatum, Salonpas, BST) across categories including hair color/care, pain relief, bath & body, air fresheners, dietary supplements, teas and coffees, and Asian condiments, shipping directly to US consumers and bulk buyers via its BigCommerce storefront.

Product overview

Larkin Inc. operates a comprehensive e-commerce marketplace powered by BigCommerce, specializing in Asian health, beauty, personal care, and lifestyle products. The platform aggregates multiple brands across distinct product categories: hair color and care products (including Bigen, Paon, Meibo, and Hoyu brands offering powders, creams, mascaras, and shampoos); topical analgesics and wellness products (including Eagle Brand, Salonpas, Sheng Chun, and Mentholatum offering pain-relieving patches, medicated oils, balms, and ointments); bath and body care (including Earth Chemical Bath Roman series with collagen and ceramide bath powders, King's herbal foot soaks, and My Shaldan air fresheners); dietary supplements and beverages (including Gold Choice ginseng coffees, Kinginseng teas, and Asian condiments like My Juice lime juices and Red Brand plum drinks); and facial skincare (including Ly-Na, San Ing, and San Ruby face creams). The product portfolio spans over 30 brands, offering both individual items and bulk purchasing options across 13 main categories.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SC Herbal Patch Pain Relieving Patch Topical analgesic patch containing menthol and methyl salicylate for temporary relief of minor muscle and joint aches and pains (backache, arthritis, bruises, sprains, strains). Offered as a standalone retail SKU with tiered bulk discounts.
• Bigen Speedy Conditioning Color Ammonia-free conditioning hair color providing 100% gray coverage with quick application time, sold as a refill SKU.
• Eagle Brand Eucalyptus Oil Natural eucalyptus oil formulation for clearing respiratory passages, relieving cold symptoms, and easing muscular pains with anti-inflammatory effects.
• Mentholatum Ointment Classic menthol-camphor ointment (9% camphor, 1.3% menthol) for soothing minor aches and pains, nasal congestion, and chapped skin.
• Gold Choice Instant Coffee Premix with Ginseng Instant ginseng coffee blend with creamer and sugar, containing Panax Quinquefolins extract for a rich and robust aroma.
• Meibo Shampoo Chinese herb-based shampoo (Shou Wu) containing Camellia Oleifera seed oil for nourishing hair, relieving scalp irritation, and preventing hair loss. Available in multiple sizes.
• BST's Eucalyptus Oil Vietnamese eucalyptus oil (Eucalyptus globulus) traditionally used to alleviate sinus congestion, respiratory infections, and aching joints and muscles.
• Paon Seven-Eight Hair Color Kit Japanese permanent hair color kit providing 100% gray coverage in 7-8 minutes with built-in conditioner for a silky, shiny finish.
• Earth Chemical Bath Roman Bath Powder Japanese bath powder product line with variants including Collagen, Ceramide, Milk Protein, and Shea Butter & Hyaluronic Acid for moisturizing baths.
• My Shaldan Air Freshener Citrus gel air freshener (Limonene-based) in multiple scents including Apple, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Peach, and Squash, refreshing up to 8 weeks.
• My Juice Penang Lime Juice 3 in 1 Tart lime and sweet plum beverage mix from Malaysia, combining lime and plum for a refreshing drink.
• Red Brand Lime Juice with Sour Plum Vietnamese preserved calamansi and sour plum beverage mix for a refreshing, sweet and sour drink.
• King's Herbal Therapy Foot Soak Herbal foot soak containing 100 sachets for promoting foot health, improving blood circulation, and relaxation.
• Hoyu Bigen Cielo Hair Mascara Temporary root touch-up hair mascara that washes out with shampoo, providing coverage for gray roots with camellia oil for shine.
• Subscription Service Recurring-delivery subscription allowing customers to schedule regular shipments of preferred Larkin health, beauty, and lifestyle products.
• Wholesale Program Wholesale purchasing program offering bulk quantities of Larkin's Asian health, beauty, and personal care catalog at discounted rates for SMB resellers and bulk buyers.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Amazon: Amazon's US marketplace carries Salonpas, Bigen, Mentholatum, My Shaldan, and most other brands Larkin distributes, often at competitive prices with Prime fulfillment. It is the dominant competitive threat for the same Asian health/beauty SKUs.
• Walmart: Walmart has been expanding its Asian health and beauty assortment both online and in-store, directly competing with Larkin for shoppers seeking brands like Salonpas, Mentholatum, and ginseng-based supplements at mainstream retail prices.
• Olive Young: Olive Young is the dominant Korean health-and-beauty retailer now expanding internationally after acquiring Soko Glam. It is a powerful Asian-beauty specialist peer pursuing global DTC scale that Larkin operates in domestically.
• Sephora: Sephora is a US-based mass beauty retailer carrying many of the same Asian beauty brands Larkin distributes (Bigen-adjacent, Shiseido family, etc.). It competes for the same US beauty consumer but at much broader scale and brand reach.
• iHerb: iHerb is a large global e-commerce retailer of health, wellness, herbal, and personal care products including many Asian brands. It competes for Larkin's health-and-beauty shoppers but at much larger scale and broader assortment, including ginseng and herbal SKUs that overlap directly.

Direct peers

• Jolse: Jolse is a Korean-based e-commerce retailer carrying Korean and Japanese beauty, health, and personal care products with both retail and wholesale pricing tiers. Its hybrid retail/wholesale model and Asian-beauty focus directly mirror Larkin's structure.
• YesAsia: YesAsia is an Asian-founded e-commerce retailer offering beauty, health, and lifestyle products alongside media/entertainment. It overlaps Larkin on the curated-Asian-products DTC proposition for US consumers.
• YesStyle: YesStyle is a Hong Kong-based DTC e-commerce platform specializing in Asian beauty, health, fashion, and lifestyle products to a global (including US) customer base. It directly overlaps Larkin on the curated-Asian-beauty-and-wellness proposition and sells to similar individual consumers.
• Soko Glam: Soko Glam is a US-based DTC retailer of K-beauty and J-beauty products, now part of Olive Young. It shares Larkin's model of curating and educating US consumers on Asian beauty/wellness brands, though with a narrower category focus.

Emerging players

• Cosrx: Cosrx is a Korean skincare brand selling direct-to-consumer in the US through its own site and Amazon. It exemplifies the disintermediation risk Larkin faces, as Asian brands increasingly bypass wholesalers to reach US consumers directly.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/larkin-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Larkin