The series is based on Ins Choi's 2011 play of the same name, with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Jean Yoon reprising their roles from the stage production.

The show was produced by Thunderbird Films in conjunction with Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company, and scripts were written by Ins Choi and Kevin White, who had previously written for Corner Gas.

The first season was filmed from June to August 2016 at Showline Studios in Toronto, and one episode was shot on location in Koreatown at Bloor and Christie Streets.

The store's interior set was built as an exact replica of the real Mimi Variety store at 252 Queen Street East, which was used for exterior shots; the 'Kim's Convenience' sign reused the original store's red and green lettering, and the owners kept the new signage even though the business never officially changed its name.

Season 5 was filmed in 2020 under strict COVID-19 protocols; Simu Liu, who was finishing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Australia, could only return to Toronto near the end of production and shot for nine days straight to complete his remaining scenes.

The series ended after its fifth season, despite having already been renewed for a sixth, because co-creators Ins Choi and Kevin White chose to leave the show; producer Ivan Fecan said Choi was unsure how to continue the story beyond season five, and the cast and crew's attempts to persuade him to stay were unsuccessful.

After cancellation, cast members Simu Liu and Jean Yoon publicly criticized the show for a lack of diversity among writers and producers, poor pay, and limited creative input for actors, with Yoon specifically noting the absence of Asian and Korean-Canadian women in the writers' room.

A spin-off series called Strays, centered on Nicole Power's character Shannon Ross, was developed by Kevin White, but Simu Liu declined to reprise his role, citing concerns that the spin-off focused on the only white main character from the original series.

The first season holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 critic reviews, with an average score of 9/10, though some critics like Rick Salutin and Mark Breslin criticized the show for relying on accents for humor or lacking strong comedic exaggeration.