Unique Bunny jumps to 10 stores, with eye on future expansion

Ekam Verma’s shopping trip might be sparked by an email: we’ve restocked.

Her destination? Unique Bunny.

Verma scanned the aisles of Unique Bunny’s McPhillips Street location on Monday — her go-to Japanese eyeliner was across the store; South Korean cleansing foams and pore repair serums stood nearby.

“They usually run out of stock on some items because it’s really trending,” said Verma, 26.

“I get all of my products here.”

She’s joined the wave of Canadians buying Japanese and South Korean skincare goods. Ten-step skincare routines and cleansing methods have become popular online.

Meanwhile, Unique Bunny — the Winnipeg-born purveyor of such products — keeps expanding.

Unique Bunny owner Fiona Zhao is in Quebec this month. She’s helping at a Quebec City shop that opened in late September. Later, she’ll hop to Montreal to oversee Unique Bunny’s newest location, set to open on Nov. 21.

Last weekend, Unique Bunny launched its first Saskatchewan site in Saskatoon.

“We’ve gone so far,” Zhao said.

She and her team have grown Unique Bunny from a pop-up stand around 2014 to a chain of 10 stores across Canada. What once sold three brands now sells at least 60.

Zhao immigrated to Vancouver from Beijing as a 17-year-old. She wanted to entrench herself in Canadian culture, she said, so she emailed a former high school teacher she’d had in China — an expat from Winnipeg.

“He’s like, ‘If you really want to experience Canadian life, why don’t you come (to Winnipeg)?’” Zhao said. “It’s a really good place to practise English, learn more about culture.”

Zhao enrolled in women and gender studies at the University of Winnipeg. Later, she got a job managing a beauty counter at the since-shuttered downtown Hudson’s Bay department store.

She looked around: a lot of the brands were European exports. Anti-aging was a major focus, but Zhao’s clients sought diversity — remedies for acne, moisturizing and dark spots, among other things.

Some makeup products — such as foundation — only matched certain skin tones. It didn’t fit the range of Zhao’s customers.

“I found out Canadian people or international people in Winnipeg need more variety,” Zhao said.

She decided to start her own business, pulling brands from Asia into the city. She started with booths at Winnipeg Comiccon and Ai-Kon, a local anime convention, in 2014.

“When customers found the product that they need and they want, their face was full of happiness. After I saw the happy faces, I started to realize ‘OK, maybe it’s time for me to have more,’” Zhao said of working at the conferences.

Zhao tapped three people to become business partners; they opened Unique Bunny’s first store on Corydon Avenue in 2014. The company moved to Osborne Village within two years in pursuit of more foot traffic.

There, the company flourished, Zhao said. She opened a stand-alone Pembina Highway location just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020; the goal was to be closer to Unique Bunny’s regulars who studied at the University of Manitoba.

Three years later, in 2023, Unique Bunny was back to growing: it opened locations on McPhillips Street and in Outlet Collection Winnipeg. Zhao also closed the Osborne Village site after repeated safety concerns.

Outposts in Edmonton and Calgary came in 2024, following customer requests. Unique Bunny opened in CF Polo Park earlier this year.

“We try to open to the places that the customer demands. We did not open in Vancouver — yet — because we want to prioritize people who actually need those products but haven’t had the chance to get them,” Zhao said.

Unique Bunny will start hosting workshops next year, including product and skincare tutorials. The events will happen at 1375 McPhillips St. and a Calgary locale, Zhao said, adding they’re borne from customer demand.

Unique Bunny has also partnered with Maro Matcha, a Winnipeg company, on drinks pop-ups within its retail space.

“That’s an excellent way to go about it. The more that they create that sense of connection with both potential customers as well as actual customers, I think that’s just going to make their brand stronger,” said Divya Ramachandran, a University of Manitoba marketing professor

Zhao said she’s hearing from customers wanting new Unique Bunny shops in Western Canada. Those could come in 2026, she added.

The chain employs about 100 people and will hit 110 once the Montreal shop opens.

“I’m really, really happy that most of our team from Day 1 are still with me,” Zhao said. “I’m hoping that Unique Bunny will continue to grow but with a slow, steady … speed.”

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com