The Hub Karen (THK) Lifestyle complex has signed an agreement with Japanese lifestyle retail brand MINISO that will see the brand open an outlet in August 2018 at the lifestyle complex.
Speaking at the signing of the agreement, Philippe Cauviere, the Chief Executive Officer of Azalea Holdings, the developers of The Hub Karen, said such high profile international retailer will further enhance the variety of lifestyle stores at the shopping and recreation complex.
Alongside it’s The Hub Karen operations, MINISO Lifestyle Kenya Business Development Manager, Dean Zhu confirmed the firms plan to expand its local presence with a mix of directly owned and franchised outlets countrywide.
“We are truly excited that MINISO has chosen The Hub Karen as one of their African flagship locations,” Cauviere said. He added that, “The scheduled opening of a MINISO lifestyle store in August will undoubtedly enhance The Hub Karen’s appeal as Sub-Sahara’s premier shopping and recreation complex and offer shoppers a wide range of unique and affordable lifestyle products.”
In Africa, MINISO’s footprint covers Nigeria, Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Morocco and Madagascar with over 2,600 stores across the world.
“As part of our expansion strategies at MINISO, we are planning to develop more than 100 stores in Kenya directly and on a franchise model.” Dean said.
MINISO stocks a wide variety of retail products inspired by fashion lifestyle in every aspect of life. The firm’s stores stock more than 5,000 products covering categories such as health, beauty, digital, creative home-ware, stationery and gifts, boutiques and bags, textile, toys, food and beverage as well as accessories, life department and seasonal products
Last year (2017), MINISO’s global turnover stood at USD 1.2 billion while sales from external markets came in at USD 737 million.
French Sports Retailer, Decathlon is also set to open its first store in sub-Sahara Africa at The Hub Karen this September. The entry of Decathlon in the local market will serve to further enhance Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows in the local formal retail market by French companies.
The Lifestyle destination mall, spanning over 376’000 sqft (35’000sqm) features more than 1,300 eatery seats and 85 shopping stores hosting local and international retailers. Some of the brands in the mall include French retail giant Carrefour, Furniture Palace, Funscapes, LC Waikiki, Woolworth, F&F Fashion, Bossini, Adidas, Reebok, Burger King, Dominos, KFC, Artcaffe, Spurs, Ocean Basket, Zucchini and Decathlon (opening in Sept 2018).
The Hub Karen is part of the Janus Continental Group, an international conglomerate, comprising of market-leading companies in the Energy, Hospitality and Real Estate sectors.
