Finnish textile and clothing design company Marimmeko says growth in the Asia Pacific has been strong in recent years.

Now it wants to further reinforce its position in what has become a key market, in accordance with its internationalisation strategy.

This year, the main focus will be on China and Japan.

In 2012, Marimekko signed a partnership agreement with the Hong Kong-based company Sidefame with the aim of opening a total of 15 Marimekko stores in China by the end of 2016. The first of these opened in Hong Kong in May 2012.

The first Marimekko store in mainland China opened on June 20 in the Taikoo Li Sanlitun mall in the Chaoyang district of Beijing. In early August, a Marimekko store will open in Shanghai, in the brand-new International APM mall on the Huaihai shopping strip.

At the end of the year, Hong Kong’s second Marimekko store will open in the Elements mall above the Kowloon MTR Station.

In Japan, cooperation between Marimekko and its local distributor Look continues to be a success. This year, Look will open three new Marimekko stores in addition to the previously opened 23 stores. The first, scheduled to open at the end of July, is in Kagoshima on Japan’s southernmost main island of Kyushu.

Later in the autumn, Tokyo and Osaka will see the opening of their eighth and fourth Marimekko stores respectively.

In South Korea, Look’s subsidiary I.D. Look is set to open the second Marimekko store in the country in mid-July in Pangyo, just outside the country’s capital Seoul, which is home to a lot of affluent young people. The store will be in the new Avenue France mall, whose concept is based on lifestyle shops.

In June, Marimekko’s New Zealand retailer Bolt of Cloth opened a 60 sqm Marimekko shop-in-shop focussing on interior decoration products in its new store in Auckland, the biggest city in the country.

Also in the Pacific region, a retailer-owned Marimekko store has been opened in the Tumon tourist centre in Guam. The island is a popular destination for Japanese tourists in particular.

In addition to the Asia-Pacific region, Marimekko is also expanding its operations in its other main markets, Northern Europe and North America. The main thrust in expansion in 2013 is on openings of retailer-owned Marimekko stores and shop-in-shops.