Chinese toy and home-goods retailer Miniso opening 3 stores on Long Island

Miniso, a Chinese toy and home-goods chain described as the fastest-growing retailer in the United States, is planning to open three stores on Long Island. 

One of the stores will be at The Gallery at Westbury Plaza in Uniondale, according to the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency, which holds the title to the shopping center under a tax-break deal with the property’s owner.

The other two Miniso stores will open at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove and at Green Acres Commons in Valley Stream, which Newsday has previously reported.

Miniso Group Holding Limited, headquartered in Guangzhou, China, did not respond to Newsday’s requests for comment.

On Tuesday, the IDA board approved a sublease for a 4,964-square-foot Miniso store planned for The Gallery at Westbury Plaza. The store will employ nine people, including one or two managers, according to IDA documents online.

The store, which will open in summer 2027, will be in a space that sporting goods retailer Orvis vacated at least two years ago, said Chelsea DuDeVoire, spokeswoman for the shopping center's owner, Regency Centers Corp. in Jacksonville, Florida.

In August, the IDA, which also holds the title to Green Acres Commons, approved a sublease for a Miniso store planned for the Valley Stream shopping center, which Newsday reported in August. That Miniso store will open in 2027.

“We are pleased that this retailer has opted once more to locate in a successful shopping center in our town,” Fred Parola, CEO of the IDA, said in a statement Wednesday.

Miniso’s Lake Grove store will open this fall at Smith Haven Mall, the property’s general manager told Newsday in September. The mall is undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation that will bring new stores and restaurants, and turn a courtyard into an outdoor plaza.

Regency and The Macerich Co., the latter of which is in Santa Monica, California, are considered to be leasing their properties, The Gallery at Westbury Plaza and Green Acres Commons, respectively, under tax-break deals called payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTS, with the IDA. 

The landlords must get the IDA’s approval for all tenants’ subleases until the PILOTs expire.

In 2011, the IDA granted the PILOT related to the construction of The Gallery at Westbury Plaza, and in 2022, extended it until next year.

The agency approved the PILOTS on Green Acres Mall and Green Acres Commons in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In 2024, the PILOT for the mall was extended to 2031, but the PILOT on the shopping center will expire at the end of this year.

Fastest-growing U.S. retailer

Founded in 2013, Miniso, which describes itself as a "high-growth value retailer offering a variety of trendy lifestyle products," sells collectibles and other toys, beauty products, clothes, home goods and snacks.

There are more than 400 Miniso stores in the United States, including three that opened this month in Paramus, New Jersey; Hartsdale in Westchester County, New York; and Nanuet in Rockland County, New York.

Miniso has a store on Long Island, at Tanger Outlets Riverhead, that opened as a pop-up in 2024 but its current status is unclear.

Miniso is the fastest-growing retailer in the United States, according to a National Retail Federation ranking published in August. Last year, Miniso had $466 million in U.S. sales, which was a 52.62% increase from the total in 2024, according to the Washington, D.C-based federation.

A publicly traded company, Miniso Group Holding Limited had 8,674 stores, including 365 Top Toy stores, globally as of June 30, according to investor information on its website.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.