One Amazon store, three new storefronts.
MINISO opened its first US MINISO LAND on October 17 as part of the former Amazon Style store at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio. Steiner + Associates, Easton’s co-developer and property manager, took back the Amazon footprint and divided it into three storefronts: MINISO, Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn Kids.
Easton has handled a large single-user space this way before. Instead of looking for one replacement for the Smith & Wollensky building, Steiner turned it into storefronts for Bar Italia, Suitsupply and Patek Philippe. The method is the same both times: divide the big footprint and lease it to several categories at once.
MINISO’s share is about 15,000 square feet. The company says the store carries more than 5,500 products. Licensed and proprietary character merchandise makes up over 60% of the assortment, across more than 30 collections. Hello Kitty and Disney have their own zones, and beauty, home goods and snacks sit next to toys and collectibles.
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Members accounted for 60.1% of US sales.
Membership already carries much of the US business. In its August 28 results, MINISO said its US members more than doubled year over year to about 5.8 million and accounted for 60.1% of US sales.
MINISO scheduled limited Pokémon Trading Card Game releases at the store for October 17, 23 and 30. Regular customers and members can buy two items per purchase. SVIP members can buy five. The higher purchase limit gives customers a concrete reason to qualify for SVIP status.
The extra allowance comes from MINISO’s loyalty program, not from Pokémon. A fan buying a Pokémon product gets the advantage from the retailer that sells it.
The character at the door belongs to the brand.
YOYO, the character at the entrance, is MINISO’s own. In an October 9 update, the company said YOYO generated more than RMB1 billion in gross merchandise value in the first nine months of 2026. That is preliminary merchandise value across markets. It is not revenue, and it is not a Columbus figure.
MINISO reported about 20% year-over-year US GMV growth in the third quarter. In September, GMV growth exceeded 30% and same-store sales growth turned positive.
Licensed collections give people a reason to come in. MINISO gives its own character prominent entrance space alongside its licensed collections.
MINISO has signed for the space HMV is leaving.
MINISO has agreed to lease 19,000 square feet at 363 Oxford Street for its first UK LAND store. HMV plans to vacate the unit in March 2027. The brand has not confirmed an opening date. Savills acted for the private landlord, while Cushman & Wakefield represented the retailer.
HMV said a proposed rent increase and the cost of substantial renovation work would make the store commercially unviable. The financial terms of MINISO’s deal have not been disclosed, so the two retailers’ occupancy costs cannot be compared.
Columbus puts retailers inside a subdivided former Amazon store. London gives it a large high-street unit occupied by another established brand. The same format is being placed in two different property settings, with the operator’s ability to trade that much space still to be tested in each.
What we're watching
→ Pop Mart opens its London flagship at 149–151 Oxford Street on October 23.
→ Fujifilm has leased 12,700 square feet across three levels at 210 Lafayette Street in SoHo. The format and opening date have not been disclosed.
→ Waitrose opened an 18,000-square-foot supermarket in Cricklewood, London, on October 22, its first full-line opening in eight years. Its published property brief seeks supermarket sites of 15,000–37,500 square feet gross, including conversions and retail parks.
→ AEON MALL Thanh Hoa held its grand opening on October 18 with approximately 52,000 square metres of gross leasable area and more than 130 specialty stores. The operator says about 60% are entering the province for the first time.
Easton has found three uses for Amazon’s former footprint. MINISO’s share brings more than 30 collections into a single store, supported by the retailer’s own membership program and proprietary characters. The Oxford Street deal takes the same format into another large unit.
For a landlord, the next evidence to ask for is store-level sales and occupancy costs. The membership figures and YOYO’s GMV help explain the strategy. They do not yet establish the economics of these locations.
The card says Pokémon. The membership says MINISO.
Mati Brooks,
Editor, Malls Money
Malls.com tracks malls, brands, store openings, and retail expansion signals across 50+ countries.