Chinese discount retailer Miniso aims to open up to 300 stores across Australia.
Selling fashion, cosmetics, accessories and homewares, the Chinese-headquartered group, which tries to position itself as Japanese, already has three stores in Sydney – in Bondi Junction, Chatswood and Hurstville – and has instructed retail leasing agents to find a further seven sites in Sydney and 10 in Melbourne.
Once its distribution warehouse is up and running, there will be no stopping the group, which already has more than 1400 outlets in mainland China, reports The Age. The chain is already established in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Europe and Dubai, and is expanding in North America after opening two trial stores there.
Co-founded in 2011 by Japanese designer Junya Miyake and Chinese entrepreneur Ye Guo Fu, Miniso tends to follow Japanese apparel group Uniqlo and homewares group Muji around the world. It has designers in Japan and factories in China.
Advising Miniso on its march into Australia is Complete Retail Services MD Lawrence Brown, who says the brand will disrupt local retailers.
Brown says there are more than 50 Miniso stores in Hong Kong and the group is opening five a week in Singapore. The first megastore opened on the outskirts of Bangkok “and the turnover is outrageous”.
Head of retail/national director at Colliers International Michael Bate says Miniso is “fast, flexible and on point”.
He says the stores in Sydney are grossing A$1 billion (US$767.5 million) a year, and the company is targeting earnings of more than A$11.7 billion by 2020.
