page_title: Miniso
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Miniso / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A Miniso store in the downtown Xinjiekou area of Nanjing.
context_page_description: Miniso is a controversial Chinese low-cost retailer and variety store chain that specializes in household and consumer goods including cosmetics, stationery, toys, and kitchenware. The company is headquartered in Guangzhou, China under their Chinese holding company Aiyaya. In 2016, the company's sales revenue reached $1.5 billion, up from $769.9 million one year previous.
  Miniso has been criticized as a "copycat" for sharing an aesthetic similarity to other Japanese variety stores such as Uniqlo and Muji, as well as for being a Chinese retailer that markets itself as Japanese. Even so, Miniso has expanded outside of the Chinese market and operates 1,800 stores in Asia, Europe, Oceania, Africa, North America, and South America.
context_section_description: Miniso was founded  by a Chinese entrepreneur Ye Guofu and, allegedly, a Japanese designer Miyake Junya and opened its first store in China in 2013. Initially claiming to be a famous Japanese brand, despite operating in Mainland China under Chinese company Aiyaya and had no outlets in Japan. Miniso has since expanded outside of China and opened over a thousand stores worldwide.
  In January 2017, Miniso announced that they were seeking to enter the North Korean market, opening their first store in Pyongyang four months later. According to The Economist, the store was popular among the country's wealthy but only accepted foreign currency, including the U.S. Dollar, Chinese Yuan, and Euro as payment. Soon after opening, the company's Japanese branch came under pressure for violating United Nations Security Council Resolution 2321 prohibiting trade with North Korea, distanced themselves from the move, and blamed the Chinese offices for the decision. As a result of the controversy, Miniso promised not to ship any more products to North Korea and the Pyongyang store was rebranded as "Evolution".
caption: A Miniso store in Nanjing, China. The storefront logo features the company's name in English and Traditional Chinese (名創優品), and Japanese katakana (メイソウ).
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