On his way to shop for food, Eric stumbled upon a Miniso store a stone’s throw from Place d’Italie, in Paris. The 23-year-old model does not know it but it has just opened its doors, this Wednesday, January 12. This is the eighth store in France (and the largest, with 220 m2 of sales area) of the accessories brand founded in China in 2013 and which has no less than 5,000 stores in more than 100 countries.
Through the glass facade, Eric discovers well-stocked shelves. On the white and wooded shelves, various articles in bright colors: beauty products, electronics, decorative objects, soft toys, mugs, travel accessories… What convince the young man to enter. “I got to know the brand during a trip to Taiwan in 2018,” he recalls. I like its clean style in the same vein as Uniqlo and I find the value for money interesting. “The first customer of the day to go to the checkout, he leaves with nail scissors and a pack of three toothbrushes for 7.50 euros.
Half of the items under 10 euros
Jacques, 37, does more shopping for him. He had spotted that the store was going to open a week earlier, walking around the neighborhood, and made the trip on purpose. The stay-at-home dad is tempted by a Marvel cap at 6.99 euros, curlers at 3.99 euros, a dish rack at 5.99 euros… He gets away with 17 items for 60 euros. Well beyond the average basket which is around 15 to 20 euros depending on the store.
« Half of the items are offered for less than 10 euros. The most expensive in the store costs 40 euros (a construction set of nearly 900 pieces) », specifies Ariel Wizman, former journalist now at the helm of the franchise in France.
This columnist on Canal + and Radio Nova said goodbye to the media in 2019, in part because “of the difficulties that journalists encountered in competing with social networks and influencers”. Above all, he wanted to undertake. To do this, he joined forces with two thirty-something, Jonathan Siboni and Nicolas Rey to develop the Chinese brand in France with a first store in Paris inaugurated in October 2020, next to the Galeries Lafayette, and seven others opened since in the Paris region. , in Hauts-de-France and Nantes.
Design and licenses
« If we compare to other low-cost brands of everyday objects, we offer for the same price more quality, much more careful design and packaging and products with interesting licenses, such as We Bare. Bears, Disney, Marvel, Adventure Time … » assures the former journalist.
Miniso, almost all of whose items are made in China, also intends to differentiate itself from other chains – such as Hema, Flying Tiger or even Normal – thanks to its Japanese-inspired design products. “There has been a kind of Americanization of youth for a number of years. Today, it is rather Asia, Japan, South Korea, which have the lead. We see it with the success of manga, anime, Japanese street food, K-pop… ”analyzes Ariel Wizman.
The recipe seems to work. About twenty Miniso stores should be opened this year, particularly in the Lyon region and in the South. Within five years, the trio of entrepreneurs hope that 150 will have opened in the territory, in part thanks to franchisees.
