Focus: Casual style, seriously formal profits

Carrefour blitzes Kansai
Vive la profit! In October Carrefour opened not one, not two, but three new
stores. "Ah," we hear you say, "but it did that in 2000 and look what
happened then!" The new Kansai Carrefour stores are very different beasts,
however, just as Kansai is a very different market. The new stores show just how
far Carrefour has come in the past three years.

Marui goes abroad, almost
Marui, the Tokyo based department store style fashion building retailer, was
established back in 1931. Now, only 72 years later and with a history of
considerable and ongoing success in Tokyo, it has opened its first store outside
the main capital catchment area.

Payless ShoeSource to open in 2004
A shake up in the footwear sector is in the offing with the announcement that US
chain Payless will open a test store in the Japanese market next year. As long
as it can keep a check on its trading company partner, it could become the main
rival to giant, Chiyoda.

Maru Building and Roppongi Hills? We go every week
New retail development is a great way to attract customers, and the latest sites
in Tokyo have been bringing in the punters by their millions - literally. It is
still early days for most, but site managers are already looking for ways to
keep customers coming back for more than just the first few months. Those that
can achieve this rare fete, however, are probably few and far between.

IY Bank into the black in just two years
IY Bank is Ito-Yokado's venture into a form of ATM based virtual banking that
leverages many of its 10,000 Seven-Eleven stores. Originally viewed with
skepticism as a rather innovative and, therefore, unlike the very conservative
Ito-Yokado Group as a whole, critics have now been silenced as the bank turns a
profit in just two years.

Aging Japan still someone else's problem
By 2300, if birthrates continue to decline, the Japanese race will become
extinct. Much more pressing however is the problem that much sooner, more than a
quarter of the population will be over 65 and most of these hope to be retired
- a huge problem for pensions, the health system, and welfare, but, equally a
huge opportunity for new market development. So why have Japanese companies
failed to grab it?

Station Space
In many places in Japan, getting to the ticket barrier at the railway station
means passing shops or shopping centers. Now railway companies wants you to shop
before you even deposit your ticket.

Suzutan slips into the Uny fold
Suzutan may be boring and bankrupt but at last its problems have been whittled
down enough to allow Uny to takeover the company. This is another example of
competitive cooperation between retailers and a stronger company bailing out a
weaker one. Such emotion-based business deals have seen companies like Mycal go
bankrupt. Uny gets itself a chain of 300 apparel stores, but a lot of problems
as well.

Big brand power still surprising
Despite rebellious cries from so-called market analysts, the luxury brand market
in Japan is still strong overall. It is not, however, static. The best companies
are looking to adapt, re-develop and expand, and the followers are making moves
to emulate the biggest and the best. The trend is up.

Shopping in the swamp
Want to see all of Japan's largest mixed merchandise retailers in an hour? Go
to Tsudanuma in Chiba. With the opening of Aeon's new shopping center there,
the small bedtown now has the set, with a Marui and a Parco just to add a bit of
spice.

Back from the shops: Uniqlo returns
Headlines might note further declines in sales and profits, but Uniqlo remains
one of Japan's most profitable businesses and with a 6.7% rise in same store
sales in August, the first in two years, the casual wear chain may be turning
the corner.

Kanebo wipes off cosmetics business
The new bravura in shrugging off decades of obeisance to corporate face-saving
could not be more clearly understood than in the announcement that Kanebo, the
second largest cosmetics firm in Japan after Shiseido, is in effect giving up
the cosmetics business. As all who work here know, the concept of withdrawal
from operating in even peripheral sectors was unheard of a decade ago, let alone
withdrawal from a core business sector. Market share and a presence in all the
major business categories was de rigueur for all the largest establishment
firms.

News in Brief:

Mitsukoshi forecasts ¥5.3 billion profit this year
United Arrows takes over Tokyu Nihonbashi
Custo opens flagship
Matsuzakaya leaves Osaka
Caffiene fix on your legs
Aoki absorbs Torii
Some department store profits up ...
... but Takashimaya forecasts ¥5.7 billion loss
Itochu grabs Morgan
C&S to merge Circle K and Sunkus
Ogino owns Yamanashi
Max Valu: 24 hour opening doesn't work in Japan
Matsukiyo invades Hokkaido
Japan Post pushes furusato service
Shiseido and Coca-Cola's beverage beauty plan
Itochu/Descente attack China sports market
Walk-me pants
Japan does ecotourism
Tokyo Style's China probe
Daiei hits its targets - not!