I read Haotian Zhang’s blog and learned the good news that Muji,the Japanese retailer,is going to open its first store in Canada this November.It already has stores around the world but most of them are located in Asian countries,a few are in Europe and America.Muji means ”no brand” and it offers a wide variety of household items which are simple-designed and of good quality.Though it has gained a good reputation and a large number of loyal consumers in Asia, it only plans to open 7 or 8 Canadian stores over the next 5 years.

As Haotian says in his blog that the reason why Muji expands so carefully is to avoid risks.It is a smart move because North America now only contributes a little more than 1% to its revenue ,which means it has not yet become a influential brand in North American market.Not mention it does not even have a store in Canada,taking it slow seems to be a safe and reasonable way.Besides,I learned the Urgency/Importance grid in class 4.By using it,expansion in Canada will be defined as important but not urgent.It takes time for a new brand to earn fame in a local market thus there is no need to hurry.When it reaches the certain level, Muji could accelerate.