Ariel Wizman obtained 3 years ago, with Nicolas Rey and Jonathan Siboni, the exclusive franchise of the Chinese brand of accessories Miniso for France. While the 15 French stores of this rapidly expanding international brand now have branch status, the group plans to open its first franchises in 2023.
L’Express: What assessment could you draw up since the arrival of Miniso in France in 2020?
Ariel Wizman: It is quite satisfactory. We have fifteen stores in mainland France and employ 70 employees. Our points of sale are distributed between city centers, shopping centers, train stations and metro stations. For the moment, we have chosen branch status to ensure the development of this brand created in 2013 in France, which now has 5,500 stores in 100 countries.
Did the Covid and the various confinements affect your expansion?
We opened our first boutique on rue de la Chaussée d’Antin, in Paris, on October 20, 2020. The success met was totally unexpected, with daily queues of 200 meters on the sidewalk! We did not know that many of our future customers had known Miniso during vacations in Thailand, Morocco or the United States. With the Covid, the price of containers to transport goods from China rose to stratospheric levels, which reduced our margin. Luckily the fares came back to reasonable prices. In addition, the fact of not being able to travel to China represented a handicap vis-à-vis our relationship with the head office. But all of that is behind us today.
What makes Miniso successful?
We are particularly well placed in terms of price and we offer a universe of products in tune with young people who are increasingly fond of Asian culture, whether it’s manga, K-pop or cartoons. We also offer a lot of quality items: cosmetics, stationery, toys and kitchen utensils. The universe of the house has taken on crucial importance during the various confinements. We have benefited from this trend.
To what extent is the franchise a relevant system for Miniso?
It will be fully so when our model has proven itself in various modules, surfaces and locations. We will then pass on our experience in order to offer unbeatable profitability to our franchisees. That said, we are already receiving many requests from candidates and plan to open up to franchising this year.
What qualities do you expect from a Miniso franchisee?
We value experience, preferably that of multiple and multi-franchisees, but also the love of the product. Our future partners must integrate the spirit of Asian commerce based on abundance, availability and cheerfulness.
What are your development goals?
We want to double the number of our stores this year, particularly in stations and in city centres. And have a hundred stores in total by 2026.