MINISO has landed in Kingston with a new store opening today.
Kingston High Street has become the 38th spot for customers to shop at MINISO for a mixture of household and beauty goods, collectibles and food as the Chinese retailer expands across the UK.
To celebrate the opening of the new store, which sells products from famous franchises like Sanrio, Stitch, Barbie, Harry Potter, Pokemon and Hot Wheels, the first 250 visitors were given a goody bag worth £25.
Saad Usman, Chief Operating Officer at MINISO UK, said: “The area’s bustling community alongside its reputation as being a great shopping destination are just some of the reasons we chose Kingston as the destination for our newest MINISO.
“The new store will bring all the colourfulness that you can expect from a MINISO store to Kingston, and we can’t wait to be part of the community.”
With a vibrant yellow shop banner, the Guangzhou-based company’s new store is “easy to spot” after it opened on 7 March at 12pm, as part of the brand’s bid to open more branches across the globe.
MINISO said there is also live entertainment scheduled to take place at the shop as the doors open for customers in the borough for the first time.
Residents around the area shared mixed opinions on the new development. Hilyatus Shalihat, a Surbiton local and loyal customer to MINISO, said that she is glad the store is coming to Kingston.
“Every time I visit MINISO I’m happy because their shops are attractive, affordable and you can find lots of things there that makes you want to buy them all,” she added.
When asked on the benefits of the franchise to the area’s economy, Latchmere shopper Richard Beasley said: “I think it’s great, the more shops open the better, especially if they are well presented.”
However, some people from the Kingston and Surrey area are not convinced that MINISO’s expansion to their nearest high street serves every customers’ needs.
Caroline Shah, who lives in Latchmere, questioned “the vision for Kingston’s Shopping Centre”, challenging the combination of the newly built arcade in the former Wilko and the yellow shop banner.
Likewise, Joanna Hurley Brown from Hampton Hill described the business as a “pocket money” shop that appeals more to the younger generation.
The Chinese retailer, founded in 2013 by CEO Ye Guofu, has more than 6,000 stores in more than 100 countries including US, UK, Canada, Australia, Spain, UAE, India and Mexico.
The retail brand owner opened the Kingston branch as part of a sales trend of high margin goods, products that generate a large profit at lower costs to sellers, by opening 10,000 stores by 2027.
Ye told the South China Morning Post in 2024 that he views the United States and Europe as the “next key markets” for the company’s growth, as people there spend 25-60 times more on franchise-related products than in China.
