HONG KONG, Sept. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 7, 2016, the flagship store of MINISO, a global designer brand of fast fashion, was open for business (The store is located on the 1st floor of KL'lar Huk K'kee Mall in Vientiane, capital of Laos). Phouphet Khamphounvong, Laotian Minister of Finance, and his wife, Miyake Jyunya, global co-founder of MINISO, Ye Guofu, global co-founder of MINISO, Laotian representatives of business cooperation, were present for the opening ceremony.
The flagship store in Laos had gained much attention from the local government, and it was highly applauded by the local people. On the day of opening, Phouphet Khamphounvong, Laotian minister of finance, appeared in person with his wife for shopping at the store, and the five major banks in Laos installed ATMs at the store in that very night for the convenience of consumers.
The moment when the store opened, it attracted a large number of queuing customers. The turnover of the day exceeded RMB 50,000. For a developing country with a population of 6 million people, this was a miraculous sales record. It was evident that the products and business model of MINISO were highly popular with the local people in Southeast Asia.
Laos is a nation whose economic pillar is agriculture. The nation is of a weak industrial foundation. The standards of living and consumption are generally low. Meanwhile, since there are a large number of Buddhist believers in the nation, Laotians usually prefer economical and environmentally friendly products. And this preference perfectly matches to the original intention of the design of MINISO products. This time, the settlement of MINISO not only lifts the living standards of the local people with its large quantities of "quality, creative, and cheap" products, but also serves as an example of convincing proof for the brand's practice of the "Belt and Road Initiative", a national strategy of China.
Since its establishment in 2013, MINISO has opened more than 1,400 stores across the globe. In 2015, its annual sales exceeded RMB 5 billion, making it the fastest growing brand of the offline retailing business. This year, the brand plans to open another 1,800 stores globally, and to achieve an annual turnover of RMB 10 billion.
