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Xiaomi reopens its UK Mi Store one year after shutting it down
- Xiaomi has reopened its UK Mi Store at Westfields White City in London.
- You can once again browse phones, fitness trackers and many other devices.
- This comes as the company has become one of the world’s largest phone brands.
Don’t despair that Xiaomi closed its UK Mi Store last year — it’s back. The company has reopened its shop at London’s Westfield shopping center in Shepard’s Bush roughly a year after shutting it down.
The reinvigorated store once again gives you a chance to see and try Xiaomi products first-hand, whether they’re phones, fitness trackers, or scooters. That’s been relatively easy in China, India, and some other parts of the world, but it’s been difficult in the UK.
Read more: Xiaomi buyer’s guide
Xiaomi opened the Apple-like store in November 2018 to help foster its then-fledgling UK presence. The tech giant shuttered the store in early March 2020 as an “adjustment” to its retail strategy and a rapidly growing Western European business. It doesn’t help that the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading rapidly at that stage, either. There wouldn’t have been much point to reopening a store customers couldn’t visit.
The timing is appropriate. AnalystoXiaomi just became the world’s second-largest phone brand, overtaking Apple. The UK store could help Xiaomi grow further. It could also signal that the company is here to stay — and that rivals like Apple and Samsung have to take it seriously if they expect to thrive.