Dive Brief:
- Lifestyle retailer Miniso marked a milestone on Dec. 9 with the grand opening of its 100th store in Orlando, Florida. The company’s core product offering is centered on fun and functional lifestyle items that incorporate popular intellectual properties like Care Bears.
- The company opened its global flagship store in Times Square in New York City in May with 2,500 products offered in 10 categories, according to an announcement at the time. Jack Ye, Miniso’s founder and CEO said a presence in one of the world's most recognizable destinations was an important move for brand visibility.
- Miniso opened its first U.S. store in 2017. The company entered 10 new states this year and has a presence in 20 states. Overall, the Chinese-based retailer said it had more than 6,115 stores globally, up from about 5,800 stores as of November.
Dive Insight:
Miniso is also marking another milestone this year — the brand’s 10th anniversary. The U.S. is one of the company’s top global markets, the retailer said.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the brand overall achieved global revenue of 3.8 billion renminbi ($519.6 million), a 36.7% increase from a year earlier. The company also reported a gross margin of 41.8%, up from 35.7% in the year-ago period, and an adjusted net profit of 642 million renminbi.
In the company’s most recent earnings announcement, CFO Eason Zhang noted that the increase in gross margin was “another historical high” for the company. Zhang credited that to the company’s execution of its brand update strategy and a more favorable revenue mix.
The company in February revealed its new global development strategy at an event in Guangzhou, China. To position itself as a super brand, Ye said Miniso must transform from a retail channel to a lifestyle brand, move from a retail company to a content creator and transform customers into users. Ye also said the retailer aims to become “the world’s number one provider of joyful and fun lifestyle and household products.” Part of the company's expansion plan involves a franchise strategy.
As part of the Orlando store’s opening festivities, Miniso said they created a “pink blizzard.”
The merchandise offering at the Orlando store includes exclusive selections of all-pink items from the company’s popular intellectual property collaborations, including those with Sanrio and Disney. In addition, Miniso said its latest Care Bear collection is making its debut U.S. appearance at the Orlando store. In the mall atrium, Miniso has created a “fantasy pink Christmas Village” that includes a Christmas tree house, crystal snowball and a Care Bear mascot.
The new Orlando store is 2,080 square feet. Florida Mall is part of Simon Property Group and is located near Orlando International Airport and Disney World. The Christmas Village is another initiative to deepen the company’s connection with customers during the holidays, Tyrone Li, head of Miniso U.S., said in a statement. “We are confident and eagerly look forward to becoming a preferred destination for holiday gift shopping among local residents.”
