London, March 10 (IANS): Chinese smartphone manufacturing giant Xiaomi has closed its first and only Mi Store in the UK. This is not a temporary shutdown in response to the coronavirus outbreak but due to a change in strategy by the company.

The store was located in the Westfield shopping centre in Sheperd's Bush, London, opened in November 2018 officially closed on March 5, 2020, Android Authority reported recently.

The associated Twitter account has also been shut down, and the Westfield London website has been updated with a disclaimer that the UK Mi Store is no longer open for trading.

"This adjustment to our local retail strategy is a reaction to our fast growing business in Western Europe. Since our official arrival in the UK over one year ago, we have loved building relationships with our users, Mi Fans and partners and thank them all for their support," the company said in a statement on the closure of its sole UK store

"UK users and Mi Fans can continue to purchase Xiaomi products through our official website mi.com/uk and other official channels that will be announced along with our product launches in the future," the company added.

Xiaomi phones including the recently released Mi Note 10 and other devices can also be bought online in the UK through Amazon UK as well Mi UK website.