SARS still worrying Japanese tourists
Whilst the number of visitors to Japan is back to normal, the annual outflow of Japanese tourists is not returning to the heights of the pre-SARS months. Good news for Japan Inc.

Louis Vuitton in Roppongi Hills
The latest addition to the Louis Vuitton store chain is the most exciting so far. Located in Roppongi Hills, the large scale store is flashy, glitzy, and aimed at tourists visiting the capital’s newest and biggest retail and office complex.

Kokuyo modernizes its supply chain
Kokuyo is Japan’s leading stationery manufacturer, and a company that has long employed a traditional keiretsu system of distribution. It is now dissolving that system in favor of a more modern, low cost, and direct system. The speed with which Kokuyo will make this change is impressive.

Boots are back: cool summers are good for some
The cool summer left most retailers with too many sandals, but those quick off the mark with knee-high boots have made a killing. Department stores are busy preparing for a busy, boot-full Fall season.

Aoyama uses QCMA to target students
Commercial use of the Internet and mobile phone networks is now exploding. Aoyama Shoji, for example, is about to launch an innovative new system to market specifically to students through their mobile phones. With the target so clearly defined the benefits are obvious and it is probably the first of many similar campaigns.

Casual apparel chains come back
The casual wear market is another excellent example of the general trend in retailing where leading chains are grabbing market dominance with the rest hobbling along behind.

Matsuzakaya opens another annex
Matsuzakaya’s Sakae store complex was the largest single department store in Japan even before it opened its new 10,189 sqm South Annex in September. Adding space is all very well. Now Matsuzakaya has to get the customers into it.

Fast Retailing gets relief in Theory
The decline in Uniqlo sales is leveling out and Fast Retailing remains profitable. Still, chairman Yanai’s hope for a ¥1 trillion turnover by 2010 seems far fetched. Acquiring Theory, the US specialty apparel chain, might seem like a desperate effort to add revenue but there is more to the deal than meets the eye: the expertise of Link International.

Daiei swings, Yomiuri blocks
Daiei has clinched the deal to sell off its expensive hotel, baseball and leisure facility in Fukuoka. The buyers are foreigners, and for many in Japanese baseball circles that presents a problem. Even though Japanese companies own US teams, in Japan, while foreign players are fine, foreign team owners are another matter.

Paint jobs
For the past five years or so, department stores have pushed forward with a huge investment in store refurbishment and refitting. With some rare exceptions, all the money spent seems to have had only a minor effect, but cozy relationships mean that banks are willing to provide ever more cash for stores to be spruced up. On the other hand, many stores are indeed in dire need of a face lift.

Mitsukoshi: the next 100 years
In 2004, Mitsukoshi will celebrate 100 years as a department store. It is one traditional retailer that’s likely to survive, but it continues to struggle to improve performance as day-by-day new, more dynamic retailers bite further into its trade. Now, in a sweeping move, the company has merged with subsidiaries and wiped out a whole basket of debt. Effective strategy or just a traditional corporate dance with smoke and mirrors?

Retail Ranking Part 2: A tale of two formats
This month JC completes its look at retail company results for FY2002. We introduce rankings for both specialist retailing and for Japan’s largest stores. In many ways, the two seem unrelated, but the contrast goes beyond store size. Whereas specialty retail chains have discovered modern retailing with positive results, large store, mass merchandise retailers continue to struggle. A tale of two formats.

News in Brief:
Coolest summer since 1993
80% of kids under 9 using cosmetics
Jupiter opens Osaka call center
Cash and Carry expansion
Hori expands brand stores, looking for more overseas brands
LV in Roppongi Hills
Hand made ties
D Squared for women too
Marubeni acquires Nacx Nakamura
Autobacs enters the US
Men slip into ¥40,000 shoes
Takashimaya sells Sotetsu Rozen
Doggy water beds
One Omotesando store
Nikki to sell Sergio Tacchini
Maruetsu to begin online food sales
Itochu signs Capucci
Il Bisonte stores in Tokyo and Osaka
Lands End debuts on Yahoo! Japan
Starbucks still struggling
Online fashion shopping increasingly popular
Seiyu cuts bonuses
Mariella Burani catwalk show in Tokyo before Milan
Tobu Store goes GMS
Another European brand lifts Japan sales
Shiseido goes Chinese
CFS Corp to raise own brands to 15%