Chinese retailer Miniso to ditch Japanese styling after backlash

RYOHIN KEIKAKU

19/08/2022 13:02

BEIJING, Aug 19 (Reuters) - China's Miniso Group  9896.N 
has apologised for promoting itself as a Japanese-style brand
and said it would make changes across its stores to rectify
this, becoming the latest retailer to respond to a surge in
patriotism among Chinese shoppers. 
    The company, which has over 5,000 stores in China and
abroad, has for years described itself as "a Japanese-inspired
lifestyle product retailer", and has been compared to the Muji
chain operated by Tokyo-listed Ryohin Keikaku.
    However, earlier this month, it drew anger from Chinese
social media users after its Spanish Instagram account posted a
picture of dolls, one of which it called a "Japanese geisha
doll" but which Chinese users pointed out was wearing a qipao
dress, a traditional Chinese outfit. 
    On Thursday, Miniso issued a long apology, saying the
company in its early days had "taken the wrong path" with its
brand positioning and marketing strategy, having hired a
Japanese designer as its chief designer between the end of 2015
and 2018. 
    It said it had since late 2019 started to remove Japanese
elements from its stores and shopping bags, saying it had
already done so across its 3,100 shops in China.
    It also vowed to start changing the signboards and interior
decoration in its more than 1,900 stores abroad, adding it would
complete the moves by the end of March 2023. 
    The company also said it would punish senior executives
involved with the previous strategy and that its headquarters
would be responsible for all its overseas social media accounts
in the future. "We will strictly examine the content and do a
good job of Chinese culture and values' exportation," it said.
    Chinese consumers have in recent years more closely
monitored the behaviour of big brands and become increasingly
critical of foreign companies or local businesses seen as
insufficiently patriotic.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2ZK0CS

 (Reporting by Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((Sophie.Yu@thomsonreuters.com; 861056692136;))