Dollar store no more: Miniso is back in Korea, and now it sells Harry Potter merch

Miniso reentered the Korean market, targeting young consumers with character merchandise and diverging from its previous budget offerings.

Miniso store in Mapo District, western Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

There was a time when Miniso was a budget shop in Korea, stocked with cheap “Made in China” necessities like household goods and stationery. The brand, however, never caught on in the country due to the steep competition from a single dominant retailer that already had a hold over the budget space: Daiso.

Miniso, a Chinese dollar store, entered Korea for the first time back in 2016, boasting roughly 70 branches nationwide. While the brand experienced popularity elsewhere in the world, it had limited success in Korea. Many Korean customers saw it as merely a “fake” and worse version of Daiso, Korea's own dollar store chain with 1,500 locations. Miniso was fighting an uphill battle when another dollar store was located near every subway station and town center. And it lost; it left Korea in 2021, shuttering all of its branches following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Miniso is back now — but it’s different. The budget seller reentered the Korean market in December 2024 and had opened three branches in Seoul and one in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, as of July. But the days of being yet another stop for no-brand daily necessities are over. Now, it’s pivoted: Dollar store goods have been pushed to the side, and Harry Potter eye masks, Barbie combs, Stitch plushies and other nostalgic Gen Z favorites are front and center.

Miniso store in Mapo District, western Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

On a blisteringly hot sunny Friday afternoon at the two-story flagship store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, approximately 50 young women and kids browsed through a wide range of products related to popular franchises.

Shopper Kim Mi-joeng hadn't planned on walking into Miniso's Gangnam store as she was walking past, but she ended up leaving with a Stitch plushie in her hand. “I didn't intend on shopping here, but I was attracted by the big Stitch statue at the entrance,” she said.

One thing is clear: The second coming of Miniso is younger, more commercial — and more expensive.

Miniso Store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

The new Miniso

Korea's budget home goods market was a competitive space in 2016, and it's even more competitive now. Daiso, since opening its first store in 1997, has remained a powerhouse for everything below 5,000 won ($3.59). From batteries to earphones, storage boxes and foods, Daiso had it all, and they had it all across the country. Daiso had already recorded 1.2 trillion won in revenue in 2015 with 1,080 stores across the nation. So nobody dared to compete with Daiso. Instead, newcomers like Shinsegae International's Jaju, similarly focused on daily necessities, marketed themselves as the alternative to Japan's Muji and not as a more expensive Daiso.

Therefore, the brand is taking a different tact: It's going for a “medium-to-higher price bracket for higher quality,” a spokesperson said Monday. Not many products around 1,000 won remain; the cheapest cost 2,000 won or more, with character-related ones easily surpassing 10,000 won.

There isn't yet concrete data about how well this venture is going. The company didn't reveal Korea-specific numbers in its first quarter earnings, but its non-Chinese Asian branches sold 1.2 billion yuan ($167.2 million) in the January-March period, up from 1.11 billion yuan in 2024.

Miniso store in Jongno District, central Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

A visit to Miniso offers more clues. From the charging cables to slippers and big plushies, almost everything at Miniso was more expensive than counterparts one would see at Daiso, with some double and triple the cost. A generic cotton swab, which costs 1,000 won at Daiso, was listed for 3,300 won at Miniso. A similar charging cable costs 3,000 won at Daiso and 5,900 won in Miniso. In fact, everything sold at Daiso is less than 5,000 won, while it was rather difficult to find anything for that price at Miniso.

But such overpriced household goods were far from the main attraction: Most of the shoppers were there for Disney merch.

The three Miniso stores in Seoul in Gangnam District, Jongno District and Mapo District are all leaning heavily into character collaborations. The former two branches have massive Stitch statues near their entrances; the latter welcomed visitors with Lots-o'-Huggin Bear from “Toy Story 3" (2010). All three stores were filled, top to bottom, with character merchandise — at least 80 percent of the products on offer appeared to be collaborations. “Frozen” (2013) combs cost 5,900 won, simple key chains at 7,500 won and Powerpuff Girls neck pillows 15,900 won. Iron Man and Spider-Man figurines were 64,900 won. Miniso-branded earphones and cotton swabs were in a back corner with minimal attention given.

Unlike the Miniso of 2016, the Miniso of 2025 has found something unique in this merchandise mishmash that is difficult for franchise fans to find elsewhere in Seoul. Figurine stores in Hongdae mostly focus on anime characters, and the Disney Store at The Hyundai Department store in Yeouido, western Seoul, only has Disney merchandise and at a higher price point. Daiso sells Disney licensed products, such as Winnie the Pooh slippers and Minnie Mouse raincoats, but there's significantly less variety and prices are capped at 5,000 won.

While those shopping at Daiso or midrange department stores Muji and Jaju would generally feature a mix of age groups and genders, teenagers buying beauty products alongside grandparents looking for clothes hangers, the crowd at the Miniso stores skewed younger and more international.

Miniso Store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

Kevin was visiting Korea from London — which also has Miniso stores — but still purchased a Stitch-themed mystery box at the Gangnam store for his sister. “Many of the items seen at the store seem to be exclusive to Korea because I’ve not seen them back in London,” Kevin said. “But it’s not that cheap here, too.”

Eight months after its re-entry, Miniso's expansion hasn't slowed. It plans to open 10 stores by the end of this year, followed by 30 more in 2026, including in central Seoul's Myeong-dong and Itaewon as well as eastern Seoul's Seongdong District. Busan and Daejeon locations have also been confirmed.

The dollar store's new strategy — to eschew the general population and zero in on teenagers and young adults who are willing to splurge more than 5,000 won on Disney-branded products — appears to be working. The young people are showing up to shop. But will that be enough to keep its doors open this time? There's a chance, according to Sookmyung Women's University Prof. Suh Yong-gu.

“If they can have exclusive items in the store, such as products made in collaboration with Disney, they have a high chance of expanding and succeeding in Korea,” Suh said. “The price won't matter as much.”

Miniso Store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

Miniso store in Jongno District, central Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]