Miniso plans larger US stores with more focus on owned IP

However, since last year, Miniso has been working to expand its in-house IP portfolio, which includes YOYO, which the company launched in 2025. The character has a pumpkin-shaped head and dot eyes. On June 20, Miniso opened a YOYO art exhibition with 50 life-sized figures in Grand Central Terminal, marking the first time Miniso has brought its owned IP into a public space in North America.

YOYO and other owned IP, such as Kumaru, Angry Aimee and Carrot Street, will be the centerpieces of Miniso’s store expansion moving forward. Tom Bartlebaugh, gm of Miniso USA — who came to Miniso from Five Below in late 2024 — told Modern Retail and other publications that the company plans to open larger stores alongside Walmart, Target and Ulta stores.

At 5,000-7,000 square feet, these will be bigger stores than its mall stores and will feature larger categories. The vast majority of its future stores will be in open-air centers, in lifestyle centers or on city streets, rather than in malls, Bartlebaugh said. The company has opened its largest store, at 12,500 square feet, in Fremont, California, near San Francisco.

The retailer plans to open an even bigger, 15,000-square-foot Miniso Land store in Columbus, Ohio, at the end of September or early October, and another 15,000-square-foot, two-level store along Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas in the first half of next year. Miniso Land is the company’s large-format, experiential concept featuring large areas themed around IPs such as Stitch and Peanuts, as well as its own YOYO. Bartlebaugh said the company estimates it will eventually open a dozen of these in major U.S. markets.

Miniso has begun bringing YOYO into U.S. stores in the last few months, including with a partnership with Disney on “Toy Story 5”-themed collectibles. Miniso is also bringing YOYO into its loyalty program with a YOYO “stamp challenge,” where members can earn digital stamps to use on social media and a collectible bag for collecting all the stamps.

The YOYO brand includes various figurines sold in blind boxes — as in the shopper doesn’t know what specific outfit for the YOYO character they’re going to get — as well as pins and accessories.

Miniso VP and Chief Marketing Officer Robin Liu said the company hopes that having its own brands it can license out will lead to more unique products in periods such as big film releases, such as the “Toy Story 5” and YOYO collaboration. Liu said he hopes Miniso will become internationally known as a “super brand,” rather than just an Asian brand.

Miniso’s competitive advantage over U.S. competitors, according to Bartlebaugh, is its product quality and the speed at which it reaches the U.S. from its global HQ in China, which handles design and manufacturing. Bartlebaugh added that the company has restructured its merchandising team in the U.S. to react more quickly to the rapidly growing product selection coming from China.

Miniso started to lean into accessories and apparel last year and has also begun building out a broader assortment of cosmetics and beauty, as well as food and beverage. It plans to begin testing L.A. Girl, an American beauty brand, in 30-50 stores this month.

“Miniso stores [will be] not just for collectibles and blind boxes and your licensed plushes, but more of that one-stop shop, where I’m coming in as a family, and I’m shopping different departments,” Bartlebaugh said. “Lifestyle and apparel will be a big part of it.”