On April 25, MINISO brings its Hello Kitty® and Friends Pop Up to Canada for the first time, opening its doors at the Scarborough Town Centre mall in Toronto. The playful pop-up is set to run April 25 through May 24, 2026.
The pop-up features more than 500 officially licensed Hello Kitty and Friends products, spanning collectible toys, blind boxes, vinyl plush pendants, accessories and everyday lifestyle items. Leading the lineup is the Hello Kitty and Friends Racing Club Vinyl Plush Pendant Surprise Box, which makes its global debut at the Toronto pop-up. Additional highlights include pop-up–exclusive launches such as the Sweet & Cool Style Vinyl Plush Pendant Surprise Box and the Little Cloak Collection Flocked Face-Turning Pendant Surprise Box. These are presented alongside widely distributed collections including popular series Forest Animal and Hide and Seek, as well as practical daily use collections such as Tennis Diary, which is offered as a North America–exclusive collection, offering consumers a strong sense of freshness and discovery through designs not available elsewhere.
MINISO brings the beloved world of Hello Kitty and Friends into the physical retail space through a supercute walk‑through pop‑up experience. Featuring a soft pink‑and‑blue visual theme inspired by the characters, the pop‑up includes large‑scale character graphics, rainbow and cloud elements, and multiple photo‑ready areas throughout the space. A 2.5‑metre‑tall inflatable character installation serves as a standout visual centerpiece, marking a one‑of‑a‑kind feature within MINISO’s North American pop‑up experiences.
From a Hello Kitty®‑shaped entrance to open, easy‑to‑navigate zones showcasing My Melody™, Kuromi™, Cinnamorol™and more, the environment is designed to feel welcoming, joyful, and highly shareable with a touch of kawaii. On opening day, the pop-up hosted an immersive Sanrio fan gathering, drawing more than 500 fans dressed in themed outfits. Hello Kitty and Cinnamoroll appeared on-site to interact with visitors, adding to the event’s strong fan engagement and community appeal.
The pop-up opening is underpinned by MINISO’s growing presence in Canada and its ongoing IP-led retail initiatives in the market. As of December 2025, MINISO has opened 21 MINISO LAND stores worldwide, with LAND and FRIENDS formats performing strongly in core domestic markets, where theme‑park‑style store designs have proven both commercially effective and highly engaging for consumers.
MINISO has continued to scale its presence in Canada through IP‑driven retail initiatives. The brand’s collaboration with Sanrio is rooted in a long-standing global partnership since 2016, alongside partnership with global IPs including One Piece and Zootopia to deliver a range of exclusive, immersive retail formats.
In November 2025, MINISO further reinforced its local footprint with the opening of its largest Canadian store at West Edmonton Mall. Spanning over 1,000 square meters and offering more than 5,000 IP-based SKUs, the store broke MINISO’s North American single-day sales record, providing a strong foundation for the current Hello Kitty and Friends pop-up in Canada.
Looking ahead, MINISO plans to further expand MINISO LAND and MINISO FRIENDS formats in Canada, with future openings planned for the country’s most strategic cities and prime retail locations. Through a more diverse IP portfolio and immersive retail formats, MINISO remains committed to delivering joyful, playful experience in line with its brand philosophy, “Life is for Fun”, while advancing its role as a global IP retail operation platform.
In November 2025, MINISO further reinforced its local footprint with the opening of its largest Canadian store at West Edmonton Mall. Spanning over 1,000 square meters and offering more than 5,000 IP-based SKUs, the store broke MINISO’s North American single-day sales record, providing a strong foundation for the current Hello Kitty and Friends pop-up in Canada.
Looking ahead, MINISO plans to further expand MINISO LAND and MINISO FRIENDS formats in Canada, with future openings planned for the country’s most strategic cities and prime retail locations. Through a more diverse IP portfolio and immersive retail formats, MINISO remains committed to delivering joyful, playful experience in line with its brand philosophy, “Life is for Fun”, while advancing its role as a global IP retail operation platform.
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About MINISO
MINISO Group is a global lifestyle brand offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. The Company serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores, and promotes a relaxing, treasure-hunting and engaging shopping experience full of delightful surprises that appeals to all demographics. Aesthetically pleasing design, quality and affordability are at the core of every product in MINISO's wide product portfolio, and the Company continually and frequently rolls out products with these qualities. Since the opening of its first store in China in 2013, the Company has built its flagship brand "MINISO" as a globally recognized retail brand and established a massive store network worldwide.
ABOUT SANRIO®:
Sanrio® is the global lifestyle brand best known for Hello Kitty® who was created in 1974, and home to many other beloved character brands such as My Melody™, Kuromi™, LittleTwinStars™, Cinnamoroll™, Pompompurin™, gudetama™, Aggretsuko™, Chococat™, Badtz-Maru™ and Keroppi™. Sanrio was founded on the philosophy that a small gift can bring happiness and friendship to people of all ages. Since 1960, this philosophy has served as the inspiration to offer quality products, services and activities that promote communication and inspire unique consumer experiences across the world. Today, Sanrio’s business extends into the entertainment industry with several content series, gaming offerings and theme parks. Sanrio boasts an extensive product lineup which is available in over 130 countries. Sanrio hopes to bring smiles to everyone’s faces with their vision of “One World, Connecting Smiles.” To learn more about Sanrio, please visit www.sanrio.com and follow @sanrio and @hellokitty on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and subscribe to the Hello Kitty and Friends YouTube Channel.
MINISO Group is a global lifestyle brand offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. The Company serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores, and promotes a relaxing, treasure-hunting and engaging shopping experience full of delightful surprises that appeals to all demographics. Aesthetically pleasing design, quality and affordability are at the core of every product in MINISO's wide product portfolio, and the Company continually and frequently rolls out products with these qualities. Since the opening of its first store in China in 2013, the Company has built its flagship brand "MINISO" as a globally recognized retail brand and established a massive store network worldwide.
ABOUT SANRIO®:
Sanrio® is the global lifestyle brand best known for Hello Kitty® who was created in 1974, and home to many other beloved character brands such as My Melody™, Kuromi™, LittleTwinStars™, Cinnamoroll™, Pompompurin™, gudetama™, Aggretsuko™, Chococat™, Badtz-Maru™ and Keroppi™. Sanrio was founded on the philosophy that a small gift can bring happiness and friendship to people of all ages. Since 1960, this philosophy has served as the inspiration to offer quality products, services and activities that promote communication and inspire unique consumer experiences across the world. Today, Sanrio’s business extends into the entertainment industry with several content series, gaming offerings and theme parks. Sanrio boasts an extensive product lineup which is available in over 130 countries. Sanrio hopes to bring smiles to everyone’s faces with their vision of “One World, Connecting Smiles.” To learn more about Sanrio, please visit www.sanrio.com and follow @sanrio and @hellokitty on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and subscribe to the Hello Kitty and Friends YouTube Channel.
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