MINISO Opens Seoul Flagship Store, Taps Interest-driven Consumption with Global IP Partnerships

Korea Herald

a day ago

SEOUL, South Korea, June 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 21, Global lifestyle brand MINISO opened its first MINISO flagship store in South Korea. Located at 429 Gangnam-daero in Seoul's bustling Seocho District, the store introduces a new retail concept blending global IP collaborations with localized Korean experiences. The grand opening marks a significant milestone in MINISO's expansion strategy in Korea, bringing its signature joyful lifestyle products and globally popular IP collaborations to one of Asia's most dynamic retail markets.
Spanning two floors and covering over 500 square meters, the standalone building features more than 3,500 SKUs across categories including vinyl plush toys, blind boxes, and accessories. The new flagship store is strategically positioned in the heart of Gangnam-daero, one of Seoul's most vibrant commercial hubs. As the home of Korea's largest health and beauty retail chain, the area is a hotspot for both local consumers and international tourists, particularly those from across Asia. The store's accessibility is further enhanced by its close proximity to one of Seoul's busiest subway stations, with an estimated foot traffic of more than 150,000 visitors per day and direct service from 12 bus routes.
As MINISO's first national flagship store in South Korea, the new store represents a significant step forward in the brand's evolution in the market. The new format emphasizes creating immersive brand experiences through dedicated zones for both global and local IP collaborations, enhanced digital interaction points, and thoughtfully curated product selections designed to resonate with Korean consumers. The Seoul flagship paves the way for MINISO's future presence in South Korea, with plans to launch more upgraded stores and expand into prime shopping districts including Myeongdong, Jamsil and other areas.
To celebrate the store opening, MINISO launched its hugely popular Stitch Blind Box Series in South Korea for the first time, with the products were quickly snapped up on opening day. The collection features vinyl plush figures of fan-favorite Disney alien Stitch in a series of cute and adorable styles. Already a big hit with Gen Z and millennial audiences worldwide, the collection has taken global markets by storm, making appearances in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, the UAE, and Thailand through a series of pop-up and more.
For the store launch, MINISO also organized a series of events, including the release of Stitch vinyl blind boxes and fan meet-and-greets that together added to the lively atmosphere and drove high volumes of engagement.
"The debut of the Seoul flagship store further underscores MINISO's commitment to retail innovation and localized consumer experiences for the Korean market," said Vincent Huang, Vice President and General Manager of MINISO Overseas market. "South Korea is an important strategic market both within Asia and globally, serving not only as a testing ground for consumer innovation, but also as the birthplace of new major trends. Success in South Korea, especially among young consumers, will be the ultimate validation of MINISO's interest-driven consumption strategy. The opening of our Seoul flagship marks the official start of this new strategy in South Korea, through which we are not only expanding our store network but using these stores to provide critical insights for MINISO's operations throughout Asia."
Following the store opening, MINISO will continue to leverage its IP collaborations and localized retail strategies to accelerate its growth in South Korea. This includes plans to offer Korean consumers a more globally inspired platform of playful and popular products through MINISO's expansion to other prime locations and the brand's first mall store in the Hyundai Group's shopping complex. This will be followed by strategic partnerships with other prominent South Korean retail groups.
MINISO's Korean operations will initially focus on high-traffic locations with consumer bases strongly aligned with the brand's target consumers. Through this interest-driven consumption strategy and adaptation to Korea's unique market dynamics, MINISO aims to build a highly localized network that combines scale with cultural relevance.