June 2003

• Roppongi Hills gets a few visitors
  Not the usual Golden Week this year, with too many working days getting in the way and too many international problems keeping people at home. What was usual were the huge numbers of visitors flooding through the doors at Japan's leading shopping and leisure attractions.
• Tokyo Style buys into retail, expands imports
• One more declining apparel firm claims it will transform itself into a modern, vertically integrated fashion retailer. Unlike many others, however, Tokyo Style has at least one good reason to be confident: ¥100 billion in cash.
• Mitsui gets into Home center retailing
• Two months ago, Aeon brought together Homac, Daiki and Kahma to create one of the largest home center alliances in the sector. With the relationship cemented through cross shareholdings, the new HDK Alliance, as it is being called, is now looking to quickly improve joint operations.
• Devanlay takes control of Lacoste business in Japan
• A year ago, Devanlay the worldwide Lacoste licensee, canceled the long-standing exclusive license and distribution deal with Seibu's J. Osawa Trading subsidiary. It replaced it with a joint venture directly with Seibu. Now Seibu is out of the picture but yet another trading company, this time Marubeni, has made a direct investment in fashion.
• Late night food shopping increases
• More and more supermarkets are extending their opening hours allowing people to shop for food late at night. Until now, regulations have restricted such moves, and smaller format convenience stores have filled the gap for late night shopping and top up buys.
• Prada: ¥50 million in 3 days, more to come
• Despite a decline in popularity amongst young consumers for the core Prada brand, Prada Japan's business overall is holding up. With the new flagship opening June 6, the company hopes for a revival in the brand’s appeal.
• Chloe office opens in Japan
• Richemont Group, the owners of the Chloe brand, have opened a Chloe representative office in Tokyo to celebrate its 50th anniversary. This is a part of plans to expand the brand through direct distribution.
• Triumph International up 7%, expands retail
• Triumph International, the leading German lingerie firm with a long history in Japan, plans for another year of growth. Investment in retailing, both department store concessions and its fast-expanding SPA business will continue.
• Hugo Boss to double Japan sales
• Marzotto SpA's leading brand, Hugo Boss is well-known in Japan. Yet still Japan's share of worldwide sales remains less than 5%. The company hopes that further investment in retail and its new women's wear line will change this.
• Ferragamo's flagship opens, sales up 12%
• Italian luxury shoes brand, Salvatore Ferragamo, has been busy in Japan since taking over distribution from top distributor, Aoi. The culmination of the investment was the opening last month of its largest store to date in Japan.
• Daiei turns to makers to support apparel
• Daiei is struggling to come up with anything to bring it back from the brink of disaster. One of its worst areas continues to be apparel, so the company is turning back the clock and asking for help from suppliers to make sales areas more competitive.
• Maru Biru outperforming itself
• The Maru Biru (Marunouchi Building) shopping development in central Tokyo has been open for nine months now. With Roppongi Hills also opening late last month, the site faces stiff competition from an increasing number of major shopping building developments around the capital. At present, however, there seems little to worry about as clientele continue to love what Maru Biru has to offer.
• Drugstores and department stores for cosmetics
• Women are now buying most of their cosmetics from drugstores and department stores, and less from GMS chains. Most Japanese still prefer to choose domestic brands for the majority of their needs. Shiseido comes out as the most popular of all.
• Fur fashions, no scruples here
• It is not only the international luxury brands that are benefiting from the consumer preference for higher perceived value. It seems fur is not just a favorite of catwalk designers, Japanese consumers are also keen on a bit of animal magnetism – no matter what the cost.
• Sock chains struggle with deflation
• One of fastest growing but little regarded areas of the apparel retail sector is facing tough retail price competition but still looks a promising growth area.
• Aeon examines its employees
• Aeon currently offers 13 examinations to its full-time, permanent employees. Most are centered on various food preparation skills. The system is more advanced than most in other chains, and has allowed Aeon to develop more than 3,000 skilled retail workers.
• News in brief:
• Timberland to open flagship
  Investors attack daiei executives
  Puma japan to expand stores
  Ito-yokado speeds store openings
  Aeon to expand sc openings
  75 new store applications
  Honda enters the fashion business
  20 stores for ligne roset
  Toy distribution changing fast
  Keikyu department store adds sports authority
  Matsuzakaya plans its new expansion
  Another brand image survey
  Average savings hit ¥16.88 million
  Renovation not reconstruction
  Fossil focuses on burberry watches
  Mitsukoshi to close 5 stores
  Mcdonalds: unacceptable performance
  Mitsubishi adds to the lawson empire
  Mail order firms expand overseas
  Japan creation targets europe
  Benetton’s fashion for food
  Seiyu downgrades its employees