Miniso

Miniso
Native name
 名创优品
Private
Industry Variety store
Founded 2011 (2011)
Founders
  • Ye Guo Fu
  • Jun'ya Miyake
Headquarters Guangzhou, China[1]
Revenue IncreaseUS$1.5 billion (2016[2])
Website miniso.com
Former logo used in China

Miniso (simplified Chinese: 名创优品; traditional Chinese: 名創優品; pinyin: Míngchuàng Yōupǐn; Hepburn: Meisō Yūhin; stylized MINISO, メイソウ) is a Chinese low-cost retailer and variety store chain that specializes in household and consumer goods including cosmetics, stationery, toys, and kitchenware.[3] Co-founded in 2011 by Japanese designer Jun'ya Miyake and Chinese entrepreneur Ye Guofu, the company is headquartered in Guangzhou, China,[1] under the Chinese company Aiyaya. In 2016, the company's sales revenue reached $1.5 billion,[2] up from $769.9 million one year previous.[4]

Miniso has expanded outside of the Chinese market and operates 1,800 stores in Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, and the American continent.[5] It had plans in 2015 to eventually open 6,000 stores worldwide.[6]

History

A Miniso store in Nanjing, China. The storefront logo features the company's name in English and Traditional Chinese (名創優品), and Japanese katakana (メイソウ).

Miniso was founded in 2011[6] by Japanese designer Jun'ya Miyake, a graduate of the Bunka Fashion College in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and Chinese entrepreneur Ye Guo Fu.[7] Initially claiming to be a famous Japanese brand, despite operating primarily in Mainland China under Chinese company Aiyaya,[8] Miniso has since expanded outside of China and opened over a thousand stores worldwide.[5]

In January 2017, Miniso announced that they were seeking to enter the North Korean market, opening their first store in Pyongyang four months later. According to The Economist, the store was popular among the country's wealthy but only accepted foreign currency, including the U.S. Dollar, Chinese Yuan, and Euro as payment.[2] Soon after opening, the company's Japanese branch came under pressure for violating United Nations Security Council Resolution 2321 prohibiting trade with North Korea, distanced themselves from the move, and blamed the Chinese offices for the decision.[9] As a result of the controversy, Miniso promised not to ship anymore products to North Korea and the Pyongyang store was rebranded as "Evolution".[10]

Expansions and locations

Miniso first established a retail presence in China, and the majority of its stores still operate there. Even so, it has pursued an aggressive expansion plan in countries connected with China's One Belt One Road economic policy[11] and first began expanding in Asia, beginning with four retail locations in Japan before expanding to Taiwan, Hong Kong,Nepal, Macau, India, Pakistan, Mongolia, South Korea, North Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Bangladesh.[5][2] Sales in one store in Vietnam on its opening day exceeded $10,000 in one hour.[12] Miniso's store in Pyongyang was notably the first and only foreign-branded retail store in North Korea.[2] It arrived in Australia in early 2017.[13]

In North America, Miniso currently operates several stores in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.[14][15] On August 6, 2016, Miniso signed a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Agreement with an American partner to expand its retail operations to the United States.[16] The first U.S. store opened in Pasadena in April 2017.[17]

In South America, Miniso opened its first retail store in Brazil in August 2017, its second in Chile in December 2017, with plans to enter nearby Argentina soon.[18] In May 2018 its first retail store in Peru opens at Jockey Plaza Shopping Center. In Colombia it starts operations with a double opening of two stores on August 30 in the city of Bogotá, by December 2018 they plan to open the first 15 stores in the country.

In Europe, Miniso operates retail outlets in Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Serbia[19] and Russia, among others.[5]

In Africa, Miniso first entered South Africa in August 2017[20] and Nigeria one month later.[21] There is also a store in Kenya.[22] As of January 2018, Miniso operates two stores in Egypt.

On September 1st 2018 Miniso opened two stores in Romania and plans to open 40 more stores nationwide.[23]

Marketing

Miniso's name is derived from the word "mini", after Japanese minimarts. The color red was chosen as the brand's primary color because it is considered auspicious in Asian cultures.[7] However, there are no "minimarts" in Japan, where they are known as convenience stores.[24]

Miniso's marketing strategy has been compared to other Japanese retailers such as Muji, Daiso, and Uniqlo due to similarities in both store aesthetics, brand design, and inventory.[25][26][7] Because of its Japanese-influenced branding strategy, the company's products have been criticized as "made in China to look Japanese",[1][27] particularly when many of the company's stores are located in China, where people trust Japanese brands more than domestic offerings.[3] It has also been criticized for affixing grammatically incorrect Japanese-language labels to many products, a consequence of using Baidu Translate to produce Japanese language copy, as admitted by Miniso management.[8][3]

Nevertheless, because of Miniso's success in expanding its number of retail stores, AllianceBernstein, a global asset management company, called its market strategy a success by "filling a price-point niche left unaddressed by the Japanese formats it was imitating".[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Is Miniso a Japan-based chain store?". Macau Daily Times. January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "A trendy Asian lifestyle chain opens in North Korea". The Economist. June 22, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "MINISO going places despite Muji copycat charge". Hong Kong Economic Journal. June 10, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Miniso stores set global retail record". Inside Retail Singapore. March 30, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Stores around the world". Miniso. Archived from the original on March 9, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Fang, Joy (December 16, 2015). "How Miniso wants to conquer the world one store at a time". Today Online. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 Woo, Alyssa (January 14, 2016). "Miniso is Japanese, say founders". Strait Times. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 "Emerging Market Game Changers: From Copycats To Top Dogs". ValueWalk. September 16, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  9. ↑ Takahashi, Kosuke (June 16, 2017). "Miniso shop in Pyongyang could breach UNSC resolutions: Japanese expert". NK News. Retrieved November 8, 2017. (Subscription required (help)).
  10. ↑ O'Carrol, Chad (August 21, 2017). "Pyongyang's "Miniso" store rebrands amid increased scrutiny". Retrieved November 8, 2017. (Subscription required (help)).
  11. ↑ Liu, Visen (June 28, 2017). "This Muji-like Chinese chain is expanding in the US—and North Korea". Quartz. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Spectacular Scene of MINISO's Three Stores Opened in Vietnam". Yahoo Finance. September 28, 2016. Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  13. ↑ Cummins, Carolyn (February 17, 2017). "Miniso the latest retailer to disrupt the Australian market". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  14. ↑ Dhopade, Prajakta (November 18, 2017). "How Miniso might just be a Dollarama disruptor in Canada". Maclean's. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  15. ↑ "LA JAPONESA MINISO ESTIMA ABRIR 150 TIENDAS EN MÉXICO" (in Spanish). Expansion. March 6, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  16. ↑ "MINISO Signs Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation with U.S. Representative to Enter American Retail Market" (Press release). PR Newswire. September 1, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Miniso Japan to Open First U.S. Store in Pasadena". Pasadena Now. April 5, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Miniso, maior rival da Daiso, abre primeira loja no Brasil" (in Portuguese). Veja. August 31, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Otvorena prva radnja japanskog lanca Miniso u Srbiji - TiMP portal". TiMP portal (in Serbian). 2018-05-17. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  20. ↑ Steyn, Gabriella (August 8, 2017). "Japenese Fashion and retail brand MINISO takes on SA". Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  21. ↑ "MINISO to open new shops in Nigeria". Vanguard. August 30, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  22. ↑ https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/companies/Japan-s-Miniso-opens-shop-at-Nairobi-malls/4003102-4259142-view-asAMP-14ss2l6/index.html
  23. ↑ "Retailerul japonez Miniso a deschis primul magazin în România. Unde şi când le deschide pe următoarele două". www.economica.net. 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  24. ↑ なんでも揃う！ブルネイのコンビニ「ミニマート」をご紹介
  25. ↑ "被指抄襲 名創優品：「首席設計師是日本人」" [Accused of plagiarism, Miniso responds that their head designer is Japanese] (in Chinese). HKET. July 6, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  26. ↑ "「山寨式」商法の勝利" (in Japanese). Nikkei. May 7, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  27. ↑ Tomiyama, Atsushi (October 17, 2016). "Japanese disguise helps sell 'Made in China' in Vietnam". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
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