Meet
Miniso, the new Japanese discount retailer with plans to open up to 250 stores
in Australia by 2020.
Miniso
is described as the Japanese version of Target or Kmart and already operates
1400 stores across Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
It's
products are designed in Japan, made in China, and focus on "good products
for better life". Their website includes the following philosophy -
"With the unprecedented prosperity of world economy, luxury brands from
western countries are blindly chased by consumers, while low-quality
counterfeits are all over the market, which results in people’s two extreme
consumption patterns. As a reflection and criticism of this situation, MINISO
was born!"
Miniso's
headquarters is actually in Guangzhou and it has been criticised for being a
Chinese retailer that markets itself as Japanese although there is no doubt it
has carved a niche for itself in the competitive retail world.
Miniso
has three stores in Sydney with plans for another 10 stores in Melbourne and
Sydney by the end of the year. In Melbourne they will expand into strips like
Swanson St Chapel St and Bridge Rd as well as shopping centres.