Experiential retailer Miniso is looking to bolster its stateside footprint with about 100 new stores, its real estate head said at ICSC in Las Vegas.

Miniso is planning to expand from 156 U.S. locations to 250 by the end of the year, extending its reach to at least 40 states. It's aiming for sites between 4K SF and 6K SF in major markets across the U.S. Miniso Head of Real Estate for the United States Neil Baron said it is eyeing cities with large density, such as New York and LA, then "the top 20 markets" after.

Colliers has been helping guide its expansion plans, Baron said.

Miniso is eyeing malls, lifestyle centers and strip centers. Anjee Solanki, the national director of retail services and practice groups at Colliers, said finding the right sites is tricky as Class-A retail vacancy has shrunk around the country.

"The quality of sites is tough," she said. "The supply's not there, the demand is there."

Malls saw more demolitions than deliveries last year, taking 400K SF off the market, according to JLL. Mall vacancies were slashed to 8.5% as a result, a three-year low.

Foot traffic in malls is on the upswing. Last month, visits were down 2.3% compared to 2019, Placer.ai reported, whereas in 2021, it was down 15% from that time. This is the smallest gap since the onset of the pandemic.

Miniso was founded in 2013 and has 6,600 locations globally and 150 U.S. stores, according to Baron. Seventy percent of its business comes from specializing in intellectual property products from brands like Sanrio, Warner Bros. and Mattel. Barbie products have been a huge driver for business in the past year, Baron added.

Colliers' outsourcing and advisory income was up 9% year-over-year, bringing in $497M in Q1, while capital markets revenue dropped 9% to $138M. Along with a shiny new $300M equity infusion, the company is planning to acquire with $1B to spend.