Lumine plans direct franchises with international brands and retailers

Lumine just signed a franchise deal with an overseas pizza chain. Nothing particularly unusual about that, but what is radical is that it is a direct franchise, and Lumine has plans for more, not only in dining but also in apparel, accessories and home fashion. It is even looking at Lumine-managed select shops.

JR East’s Lumine division wants to up the level of entertainment and excitement at its shopping buildings, and to do this plans to make more direct franchise deals with overseas retailers and brands. These will be across apparel, accessories, home and dining. It hopes that its access to data and feedback from Lumine customers will help it identify new forms of demand, which it can then meet through direct franchises.

Lumine is even exploring the idea of creating its own select shops, similar to the directly run sales floors in department stores, with merchandise selected by Lumine’s expanding buying team. These will consist of a mix of fashion and home accessories.

As a start it has signed its first franchise with a pizza chain, LA-based 800°Degrees, which will open in Lumine Shinjuku shortly. The chain’s main selling point is that it can prepare pizzas in as little as 90 seconds due to high heat ovens – apparently a good thing.

Lumine’s announcement is significant. Just as department stores are shifting to a mix of SC operations and department store managed retail spaces, now it seems Lumine will take over space for its own franchises and select shop style stores. A collaboration with Onward on a new chain echoes how department stores operate – but with the key difference that the resulting store will target the buoyant younger market in one of the busiest stations in the world.

Lumine does not have a record as a retailer, but it would be unwise to discount its potential. The JR East division has matured rapidly in the last decade, and brought in some serious talent as planners and tenant managers, as well as a small but expanding product planning team.

Lumine to open NEWoMan SC at Shinjuku station next Spring

Lumine has unveiled plans for the SC at Shinjuku South Exit which will open next Spring. Called NEWoMan and across from Lumine 2, it will take up six floors of the tower and three floors of the adjacent low rise building. Fashion and dining will be the main tenant categories, largely located on five floors of the tower with some 7,600 sqm of sales space, and 100 tenants. Sales of ¥20 billion are expected in the first year, easy enough given the 3.7 million passengers passing through the station each day.

Tenants will be split 50-50 between merchandise and dining, not surprising given the raft of fashion stores already in Lumine across the road and the demand for dining at what is Japan’s biggest station.

However, fashion tenants will be distinct from other Lumine buildings; while Lumine Est targets teens, Lumine 1 career women and Lumine 2 OLs, NEWoMan will aim for women in their 30s and 40s and the space will have an elegant premium design to match. Tenants will include Isabel Marant Etoile (Tomorrowland), Super TML Market, a new store concept from Tomorrowland, Estnation (Sazaby) and a joint collaboration between Onward Holdings and Lumine. Within the ticket gates there will be a large SC style food hall open from 7am to 4am and an event pace called Lumine0 will also be included.