February 2003

• Italyçs Gas signs franchise for Japan
• Fast growing Italian apparel group, Grotto, has signed a franchise deal with apparel distributor, Cross Plus for retail brand, Gas. The deal will see around 30 stores in Japan within three years. It also provides a neat way for one of the last of the big apparel distributors to become a retailer.
• Mobile means mail order
• While Japan is in the throws of becoming a broadband internet society, mobile phones still represent the main point of internet access for most Japanese. Potential e-commerce providers have had to adapt as a result.
• Yamada Denki/Daiei marriage over before the honeymoon
• Daiei thought it had solved the problem of what to do with its ailing electrical floors by agreeing to lease them to leading electrical specialist Yamada Denki. That was December, now in January the couple are no longer talking.
• Small apparel firms cooperate to compete
• In typical Japanese style, competition often means cooperation. Small firms are now coming together to develop joint apparel brands and compete with a bigger threat: China.
• Trussardi cancels Teijin license
• Trussardi, the Italian luxury brand, has canceled its second master license agreement in three years. Unlike most top brands however, it will not be opening its own subsidiary in Japan but instead will sign a new partner: Mitsui.
• Another year, another record: Louis Vuitton
• Price increases and new stores have, of course, helped Louis Vuitton, now seen by some as Japançs national luggage brand, maintain double digit growth. But thereçs a whole lot more behind LVçs success.
• World reform
• World, once Japançs largest apparel group, is making plans to take on new rivals and rebuild its position in the market. Young consumers are its target as it plans to rebuild itself as a full scale SPA.
• Joyful Honda goes for size
• Joyful Honda, the major home center chain from northern Kanto, has recently opened Japançs largest single home center store in Chiba. Tough competition in the area means that the success of the store is by no means guaranteed, however.
• Big SCs come online
• Despite the general retail depression, positive signs at the end of the 1990s mean that a lot of large shopping centers came on line in late 2002. More developers are coming to terms with new legislation, and more big developments will open in 2003 as well.
• Seibu: War and Peace Saga
• The Seibu saga is one of the longest and most complicated of all the main retail conglomerchants. Outsizing Daiei with a group as diverse and unwieldy as any, Seibu has now been cut down to size. Seiyu is under Wal-Mart management and has become Wal-Martçs worry. Now Seibu, and its creditors, want to move on.
• Shop at the station
• The train is the essential mode of transport all over Japan and some railway companies have managed to use this to turn their stations into key shopping destinations.
• Takashimaya increases debt reduction moves
• Not only Seibu but now Takashimaya also claims it has big plans to clean up its balance sheet, beginning with replacing its company president.
• Peter Rabbit freed from skullduggery
• The Peter Rabbit case provides an example of what to avoid when dealing with licenses in Japan, but equally provides some hints as to what to do (and what not to do) when things donçt work out with your partner.
• Focus: The shoe on the other foot
• As JapanConsumingçs new 500 page report on retailing shows, the three Cs of Japanese retailing today are concentration, consolidation and collaboration. In the last two months we have focused on two sectors undergoing major change, electrical and apparel retailing. This month, we take a look at footwear distribution, another example of the three Cs in actionÊand useful reference for the changes in retail are impacting similarly on the supply chain.
  
• News in Brief
• Smith & Wesson signs Japanese apparel license
  Missoni signs license with Onward Kashiyama
  Random House and Kodansha joint venture
  Muji in Taiwan and Singapore
  Takara and Avex to sell Bratz doll
  Fast Retailing shifts production
  Edion consolidates to reduce costs
  Max Valu Kyushu to increase store openings
  Francesco Pineider signs import deal
  Cruchiani expands limited edition ranges
  Isetan to renovate mençs wear annex
  Fancl opens in Shanghai
  Yahoo Japan doubles sales and profit
  Kappa signs footwear license
  Kaneboçs anti-ageing portfolio
  Matsuzakaya rethinks exclusive customers
  NEBA sales down 8.5%
  Otsuka Kagu Profits down
  CVS chains to continue store expansion
  New Japanese Retail Hero: Hirobo
  Daiei sells hotels to Goldman Sachs
  Dismal December blamed on Koizumi