Retail in Asia

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MINISO opens 100th physical store in November

Customers shopping with masks at the inaugural MINISO store in the Canary Islands, Spain

Lifestyle product retailer MINISO opened its 100th post-IPO physical store this November, signaling a market expansion streak amidst industry-wide scale back and closings.

SEE ALSO : MINISO Vietnam celebrates its fourth anniversary

The opening in Madrid is the fourth in Spain this month alone, and it is bolstered by a flurry of other European and global ribbon-cuttings numbering over 100 since the brand’s IPO in mid-October. Additional store openings are planned before the end of the year.

“We aim to open even more new stores across Europe in the near future,” said Vincent Huang, International Business Vice President, MINISO.

“We look forward to welcoming customers in London, Hungary, Iceland and Italy soon, pending the course of the pandemic,” continued Vincent.

Spain is one of MINISO’s most rapidly expanding markets, with 16 stores across major cities such as Barcelona, Sevilla, Malaga, Granada. The new location in Madrid marks the 100th new store for MINISO since its IPO in mid-October, while the brand’s most recent opening was 14th November in the Canary Islands.

Source: MINISO

Spanish singer Soraya Arnelas kicked off the festivities at the Madrid store, opening the doors right in the heart of the posh Salamanca district. Opening day customers had the chance to interact with Soraya, and also enjoyed a shopping experience without lavish spending in the traditionally luxury shopping zone in Conde Peñalver, as 80% of MINISO’s products are priced lower than 10 euros. In its first week of sales, the store achieved impressive sales performance – boosting franchiser’s and even the local economy’s confidence in consumer spending.

While some industry reports indicate a potential 25% drop in in-store holiday shopping traffic this year, MINISO franchisers believe the wide variety of highly designed goods at affordable prices will be a draw. Ana Rivera, the General Manager of MINISO’s exclusive franchiser in Spain, said they plan to open a new store in Melilla, another Spanish autonomous territory on the northwest coast of Africa, by the end of November.

“Adding a fashionable and affordable retail brand to these popular commercial areas boosts the area economy both for local customers and returning tourists,” said Ana Rivera.

“MINISO is the right type of retailer to bring back business to our beaches,” Ana added.

Many of MINISO’s European franchisers are renowned operators in the retail industry and are eager for continued expansion in their respective markets. 

For example, one of MINISO’s business partners, Michiel Witteveen, the CEO of the Mirage Retail Group, said the company plans to open a new store soon, which would be the 3rd location in the Netherlands, adding to their existing footprint in Eindhoven and Utrecht. Mirage Retail Group owns more than 800 stores from various successful brands such as Blokker, Big Bazar and Intertoys – so Witteveen knows what makes brands thrive. 

“MINISO is not comparable to any other store format in the Netherlands. It has a frequently changing range of high-quality design items and a very attractive price,” said Witteveen explained one of the reasons why franchisers are so eager to introduce MINISO locally.

The particular format highlighted by Witteveen refers to MINISO’s unique ‘7-11’ philosophy, which means that 100 new products are selected from among 10,000 samples to be released every 7 days. The ‘7-11’ philosophy aims to stoke fast innovation and consistent product upgrades, and to seed customer store re-visits and re-purchasing due to curiosity about the new products.

MINISO set a record pace in its home market, China, by opening 54 stores on the same day on 1st October, which is the first day of China’s Golden Week – a week-long national holiday that represents one of the biggest weeks for retail and tourism. The timing was also ahead of China’s biggest shopping festival known as Double 11 or Singles’ Day.

SEE ALSO : MINISO opens first store in Paris 

MINISO HQ also directly operates a number of stores across Asia, Africa and the United States – opening more than 20 stores collectively across these regions since October. Notable openings include the 39th store in Los Angeles, United States, and one in the iconic Pacific Mall in New Delhi, India. According to Vincent Huang, MINISO plans to open a new store in a top tourist destination in Indonesia before Christmas.