Kenji may not be a household name right now, however its plushies and stationery ranges will look familiar to many UK shoppers.
The East Asian-inspired British retailer may only have a handful of standalone stores, but its wholesale partnerships with the likes of HMV and Clintons have given the brand a presence in almost every major town.
However, the Kenji name will soon spread a lot wider as the business, which turns 10 next year, is kicking off its anniversary by ramping up expansion across the UK and overseas as it plans to double its store numbers in the next 12 months.
Set on making a name for itself on the British high street, it has brought on new managing director, former Clintons CEO Eddie Shepherd, to spearhead its growth plans.
“The business has benefited in the last 10 years from being one of the only people in that category and sector,” Shepherd notes.
“However, there are other brands now biting into that a little bit with Miniso and Søstrene Grene expanding. We’re in a market that is competitive so it’s emboldened us to be as innovative and front of house as we can.”
So, how exactly is the plushie giant looking to stay ahead in this market?
Doubling Kenji’s estate
Shepherd explains Kenji has “big company aspirations” as it plans to more than double its store estate and staff numbers over the next 12 months.
At present, the retailer has 10 stores across the UK, the majority of which are in the north of England such as Manchester’s Trafford Centre and Arndale Centre, Sheffield’s Meadowhall and Birmingham’s Bullring.
This may seem relatively small in comparison to rivals like Flying Tiger Copenhagen’s 100 plus stores in Britain or Miniso’s 30 – however, Kenji’s UK presence also includes space within 118 HMV shops and dozens of Clintons stores nationwide.
The retailer, which turned over £15m last year, is planning to open a further 12 stores up and down the country as well as its first international store in the Netherlands as part of a £4m investment.
“The fact that you don’t know much about the brand doesn’t surprise me, because not many people do,” he says, “That’s a good thing and the aspiration for the brand in the next 12 to 18 months is to grow by another 10 stores as a minimum.”
Kenji store are mostly located in shopping centres and its expansion will see it open a mix of standard 2,500 sq ft stores alongside new 6,000 sq ft two-floor flagships.
At present, it only has a couple of larger stores following the unveiling of its newly upsized Trafford Centre shop and its upcoming Westfield White City store opening in December.
However, the 10 stores opening next year is just the start. Shepherd estimates total saturation of the brand could reach between 50 and 70 standalone stores.
“We’d like coverage across the country eventually,” he adds.
Better stores and better product
Kenji’s existing store network is also receiving an upgrade with its Warrington and Bury shops relocating into bigger units, as well as a design refresh in all stores.
“The business is 10 years old next year, and in that time, it has had five different retail concepts of one shape or another, going from the very basic first one to something that you’ll see when White City comes out,” Shepherd says.
“That’s been an evolving process of making sure that this is a premium shop fit…that gives the customers a reason to shop with us as opposed to people who exist on the same high streets.”
He adds: “It’s making sure that the experience matches the expectation of the customer.”
The store revamp and expansion will be underpinned by the development of Kenji’s product ranges and availability.
Shepherd says it is making “continued investment” in new product development and is “making sure we’re catering for a number of seasons and events,” he explains, referencing the makers markets it runs in store where local businesses host craft workshops for customers.
Kenji has built a loyal following in its almost 10 years with its plushies, key rings and snacks a firm bestseller for the brand.
“We’ve got a number of new product categories that we’re likely to enter into over the course the next 12 to 18 months, such as paper, cards, gift wrappings and beauty,” he says.
Seasonal ranges are another growth opportunity for the business which has focused more on “dealing with the everyday stuff”, says Shepherd.
He says its Halloween ranges were up around 400% to 500% year over year.
However, a wider product range and larger store estate requires “greater distribution facilities”, Shepherd notes, explaining the retailer will be moving into a new warehouse that’s “circa four times the facilities we’ve got at the minute”.
“With that comes an increase in staffing, an investment in systems, both in terms of products and branch merchandising, alongside general IT and everything else.”
A loyalty scheme and gaming app
Another priority for the business includes fostering a community with its customers. This includes the recent launch of Kenji Club, its first-ever loyalty scheme where customers can collect gems on their purchases to claim rewards.
Shepherd says the scheme has had a “strong start” in its first week and increased the average spend per customer by 75%.
“We think that loyalty gives us a couple of thing: firstly, it gives us differential to competition, which is never a bad thing; secondly, it gives our customers a direct benefit from shopping with us more frequently; and thirdly, it gives us the opportunity to target some promotions as we get better on the CRM side of things.”
Shepherd explains there will be a big push on Kenji Club during the final quarter of the year and “all our new store openings will have some focus around that”.
In the future, he hopes to extend the retailer’s loyalty scheme to include its wholesale partners with customers able to interact with the brand regardless of where they shop its products.
Kenji’s new loyalty scheme will soon be joined by a new gaming app, Kenjiland, which launches before the end of the year.
“There’s a clear resonance with our customer base and that gaming community,” Shepherd explains, adding that “for our brand and our target customer, I don’t think a traditional app, which is basically a scan and shop app, is anything that’s going to be either exciting or useful to them”.
The app will start off as a gaming-only space, but will at some point include a transactional element to bring it together with its retail business, Shepherd explains.
He says the team wanted to create a product that carried “a sense of belonging [and] that’s why it lent more into the gaming”.
The UK high street certainly needs ambitious young retailers that want to take on new space – and Kenji looks set to go full throttle. Expect it to become a more familiar name in the next few years.
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