Miniso, a Japanese retailer selling consumer, fashion and cosmetics products, launched three outlets simultaneously in Ha Noi on Saturday, commencing its operations in Viet Nam, where it plans to open a dozen stores by the end of 2016.

A customer (L) checks out at a Miniso store in Ha Noi on 10 September 2016. (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

More than 50 percent of the merchandise at the newly-opened stores, located on Thai Ha, Hang Hang and Xuan Thuy Streets, sell for only USS$2, or VND45,000 apiece.

Goods at the Miniso stores, open from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm, range from fashion and cosmetics to electronics and food.

As in all other Miniso stores around the world, all products are designed by a team led by the brand’s co-founder and chief designer, Miyake Jyunya. Other designers in the team have previously worked for big brands like Adidas and Ikea.

Jyunya founded Miniso in Japan in September 2013 with his Chinese partner Ye Guo Fu, now the company’s president. Miniso is registered as a Japanese firm but is headquartered in the China's Guangzhou City.

Miniso currently has 1,600 outlets in 22 countries and territories, and has plans to open nine more stores in Viet Nam by the end of this year.

The next Vietnamese outlets could be located in Hai Phong, Vinh, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho, the company revealed at a press conference in Ha Noi on Saturday.

When Miniso arrived in Singapore in January 2016, local consumers questioned its origin thanks to its Guangzhou headquarters and a number of stores in China.

According to The Straits Times, Miniso has more than 1,000 outlets in China and only 4 in Japan.
Now that the brand has reached Viet Nam, local consumers have held the same skepticism over whether their products are Chinese- or Japanese-made.

At Saturday’s press conference, some reporters raised that question, but the Miniso co-founder was not unprepared, according to Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper.

The Ha Noi-based newspaper quoted Miniso president Ye as saying that consumers can trust the brand, as the products have Japanese origins and are designed by the Japanese.

Ye added that it is normal for the products to be manufactured in China, where labor and production costs are much lower.

(Source: Tuoitrenews)