Store tour: Inside Kenji’s two-floor store in Westfield London

The self-described “emerging platform that infuses modern East-Asian culture with a British twist”, Kenji offers an array of plushies, accessories, stationery, snacks, kitchenware and gifts.

The retailer is now present across 10 UK locations with another store in Groningen, the Netherlands. Its latest location in White City’s Westfield can’t be missed by passing shoppers as its colourful, vibrant charm and giant floating toys light up the storefront, which spans two floors. 

The store aims to represent the best of the brand, and offers interactive elements including digital screens and virtual games to play in store.

“Popping up on the digital screens are stuff about the opening, in-store events, promotional items, and seasonal products,” Shepherd explains.

“We’ve also launched a loyalty scheme so we will also use the screen to advertise that. It’s about reinforcing the brand ethos while highlighting particular products.”

Yong adds that a game and app is being developed, and customers can use the screens in store to play the game and browse characters, missions and other themes that may appear in the app.

“When they play the game, the characters and quests will become familiar and I think customers expect more of this stuff from retailers now,” he says.

“Every single character and product that we have in store is something that you can play with in the game to build up and collect. What you’re seeing (in the store) is what you’ll be seeing when you start the game.”

“We’re open by invitation only. So we invite our most loyal customers to test it, and we’re expecting a three month testing schedule before a public launch or friends invite only.”

The other main attraction on the ground floor is the display of plushes and soft toys featuring Christmas trees, elves, avocados, highland cows and chickens.

Yong says the brand has got “more confidence, more scale and a great supply chain” to add more products and enhance its seasonal offering. Around 95% of the store products are unique and exclusive to the brand.

Moving around to the rear of the shop, a striking display of snacks can be found where a group of students are filming the vivid colours and eclectic food and drink options.

The pastel tones and colour-coded areas fill the store to create cohesion and brand recognition, with Yong explaining that school pupils often video for social media content.

“They spend a lot of time selecting snacks and by filming, it gives customers a reason to share and connect with others. It’s the most powerful marketing,” Yong says.

Shepherd adds that while he’s been with Kenji for a couple of months, the wider team has managed to grow its store estate without a lot of marketing and advertising.

“We’re at the stage now where we’re investing a bit more in people, process, good infrastructure, and adding flagship stores like this one is important for brand recognition,” he says.

“We can probably start to look at social media and advertising spend in general.”

A similar sight of vibrant colours, signs, decorations and more teenagers filming can be found walking up to the first floor. 

While not as expansive or digital as the ground floor, what’s interesting is the variety of things on offer, including kitchenware, stationery, keyrings, personal care and a table showcasing products from local designers.

Shepherd says Kenji has a tradition of taking small management fees for local creators to sell their homemade items in the store, which rotates every few weeks. It goes down well with the customer demographic, whose ages range from children all the way up to the over 60’s.

“People come in and buy stocking fillers ahead of Christmas, as well as back to school items and other seasonal products,” Shepherd explains.

“We want to be able to introduce an offer such as ‘buy a certain amount of items for £5’ or bring in other elements of multibuys with our loyalty scheme.

“We’ve got some beauty products coming later next year, which has been a real growth area for us. The opportunities or challenges for the next year is to get more differentiation into our products and understand what we’re selling a bit better.”

While Shepherd and Yong say the brand is heavily invested in the high street with plans to open a further ten stores next year, developing the ecommerce side of things is also important.

“Ecommerce shouldn’t just be a website with pictures,” Yong emphasises.

“It needs to be seamless. With our game, the app, growing brand awareness and our store portfolio, we’re well set.”