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Aeon ties with UK’s Ocado in push for online food leadership
Aeon has become the Japanese partner to Ocado, one of the best online supermarket and systems providers for food and FMCG retailing in the world. Ocado works with only one company per country, so Aeon has stolen a lead on its rivals by gaining access to Ocado’s deep experience and world-class technology. Now all it has to do is force its hundreds of subsidiary CEOs and suppliers into line and invest heavily in the necessary systems.
Editorial: A new era of malls
Z & LINE: Softbank strikes again in battle for digital hegemony
Softbank and LINE’s parent, Naver, have confirmed integration of LINE with Z Holdings at the end of the year. The deal follows Z Holding’s acquisition of a 50.1% stake in Zozo last month and will further fuel the battle with Rakuten for hegemony in digital consumption across payments, loyalty points and e-commerce. The only question is whether Softbank can make the integration work.
World signs 30-shop Laura Ashley license
World delisted several years ago in order to clean house away from the public eye and then listed again last year hoping that it had done enough slimming down and could expand again. It has since invested in new potential growth businesses and last month signed a license deal with Itochu for Laura Ashley. World doesn’t have a great record on international collaborations, however, and still hasn’t finished cleaning out its own stable.
Seven & I closes IY Fresh on Lohaco
Seven & I and Lohaco closed the IY Fresh online store on the Lohaco shopping portal last month. IY Fresh was the only fresh food supplier on Lohaco, but after launching in 2017, it never expanded beyond just two Tokyo wards. Now Lohaco will need to add new fresh food partners and ranges of its own while Ito-Yokado will go back to the drawing board, even though it is rapidly being overtaken by the many new competitors in online food.
Workman same-store sales up 28%
Workman is truly on a roll. Sales have risen consistently over the past year since the launch of Workman Plus, but even its core stores are busy with new customers thanks to its popular new private brands being sold in all stores and its fast adaptation to the world of social media.
Kobe Bussan plans diversification beyond supermarkets
Kobe Bussan owns and manages Gyomu Super, progenitor of the successful – and only – new supermarket chain of the past 20 years. But Kobe Bussan makes most of its money from food wholesaling and sees only so much scope for discount supermarkets moving forward, so the Hyogo-based company is looking to diversify into restaurants to further expand its food supply business.
Jun ties with La Bouche Rouge, expands into sports
Apparel firm Jun has acquired the rights to French cosmetics brand, La Bouche Rouge, as part of longer-term plans to diversify into other lifestyle categories. In the same month, Jun began expanding its nascent sports chain Nergy, which is tied to Nike, with plans to have 30 stores open within three years.
American Eagle Outfitters exits Japan
Aoyama Shoji had previously confirmed its intention to cancel the franchise for American Eagle Outfitters early but had assumed the US firm would buy the 33-store operation itself. Unfortunately the loss-making chain doesn’t have optimal locations and nor is the chain currently profitable. As a result, all stores and online will close this month. quit and nor is the “Amecaji” casual apparel market buoyant enough to justify the investment.
Even with Reiwa babies, birthrates decline even faster
The start of the new Reiwa era in May caused a brief surge in marriage registrations but with the number of women of child-bearing age now falling well past its peak, the birthrate continues to plummet. More and more local authorities around the country are registering zero new children every year and the government is so worried about its tax base that it will double medical fee contributions for older seniors from 2022.
Parco attracts 2,500 to opening
The former Parco Shibuya was reopened as the ‘Parco for Everyone’ late in November. The new Nintendo and Pokemon areas were an immediate hit and the company is keen to point out some of the modern, digital aspects of the store. Currently, people are flocking to the rebuilt shopping building as the latest and most interesting experience in town, but whether the new digital tweaks and toy stores will be enough to continue to drag people up the hill from a resurgent station area longer-term remains to be seen.
Izumi and Maruyoshi Center become affiliates
Izumi has taken a 20% share in Maruyoshi Center, the last major independent supermarket chain in Shikoku. Coupled with Izumi’s new partnership with Seven & I, the move opens up the battle lines between Izumi and Aeon as the only two major FMCG retailers in southern Japan.
ABC Mart: moving beyond Korea
Korea has been ABC Mart’s big growth market in recent years, helping take the company beyond its established dominance in Japan. With political arguments and Korean consumer animosity proving problematic, the footwear retailer is likely to splash its surplus of cash on faster expansion in the USA, buying both retail volume and adding new brands to its portfolio.
FOCUS: Shopping Centres 2018-19: sales rise again but even fewer new malls
Shopping centre sales rose again in 2018 thanks to decent local support, investment in upgrading and expanding malls, inbound tourism growth and the growing enthusiasm to use dining and leisure options at station-based malls across the country. Tourism boosted outlet malls once again and helped Narita Airport’s SC to widen its lead as the biggest mall by far, but it was the big station-based SCs that performed the best on average. Despite this relative buoyancy, the number of new malls in 2018 collapsed to the lowest level in 20 years and 2019 looks like being even lower. Shortages of labour and materials in the pre-Olympic infrastructure boom haven’t helped but nor has greater competition and falling interest in all but the best retailers’ new stores.
Retail Data: Department stores: a 17.5% hangover
IN BRIEF
Marui to close Kyoto and Kawagoe stores
Tokyo Base jumps 20% in 1H19
Z e-commerce up 10.9%, Zozo 11.7%
Isetan Shinjuku upgrades cosmetics, expands online
Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi: Bic Camera opening in 2020
iStyle launches global @cosme app
JINS opens latest AI-enabled store in Parco Shibuya
Seiko and Toray sell luxury eyewear
Isetan-Mitsukoshi ends Anna Sui license
H&M opens 100th store, aims for 150
80% of seniors shopping online
Timex cancels Japan distribution
Matsuya signs license for Moomin
Yamato Transport: hoping for less business
Daimaru Umeda offers stress relief for women
Trial to hugely expand in-store AI systems
Paidy offers credit service on Amazon
KDDI and Facebook tie on 5G projects for retailers
Nitori’s new app integrates stores and online
Matsukiyo to open in Vietnam, adds new concept store in Ikebukuro
Korean spat reduces inbound visitors
Ain buys Dazzshop cosmetics brand and chain
Part-time wages continue to rise
Brands and Companies in this Issue
ABC Mart
Adastria
Aeon
Ain Pharmaciez
Albion
Alibaba
Amazon
American Eagle Outfitters
Anna Sui
Aoyama Shoji
Askul
Atre
Ayura
Balenciaga
Baycrews
Bic Camera
Bottega Veneta
Bvlgari
Calaja
Camera de Search
Cartier
CCC
Chanel
Chronos
Comfort Market
Coop Sapporo
Daimaru
Daytona International
Dazzshop
Decencia
Descente
Dior
DKSH Japan
Dolce & Gabbana
Elite Spectrum
En Japan
Free People
Fuji
Grandelies
Gucci
Gyomu Super
Hankyu Umeda
Hanshin Umeda
Hawkins
Hermo Creative
Homeru Bar
Iroha
Isetan Shinjuku
Isetan-Mitsukoshi
ISMY
Ito-Yokado
Itochu Shoji
IY Fresh
Izumi
J Front Retailing
JINS
JR East
JR West Lucua
Jun
Kakogawa
Karuizawa Prince Plaza
KDDI
Kobe Bussan
Konaka
Kuipo
La Bouche Rouge
LaCrosse Footwear
Lalaport
Laura Ashley
Laurent Ferrier
Lawson
LINE
Lohaco
Lotus Food Group
Lucua
Lumine
Mac House
Make Up Alley
Mark IS
Marui
Marunaka
Maruyoshi Center
Mash Holdings
Matsumotokiyoshi Holdings
Matsuya
Meeco
Merpay
Mitsubishi Estate
Mitsui Outlet Park
Mitsukoshi
Modi
Money Forward
Montblanc
Moomin
Morrisons
MUI Group
Muji
Musee Shop
Narita Airport
Naver
Nergy
Nike
Nintendo
Nippon Steel Trading
Nitori
NTT Docomo
Odakyu Shinjuku
Oisix Ra Daichi
OK Super
One Aeon
Onward
Paidy
Parco
PayPal
PayPay
PayPay Mall
Perie Chiba
Pokemon Centre
Rakuten
Saint Laurent
Salvatore Ferragamo
Scramble Square
Seibu Saison Group
Seiko Holdings
Seven Eleven
Shibuya Scramble Square
Shiro
Shiseido
Softbank
Studious
Stylevoice
Sumikin Bussan
Sumitomo Fudosan
Super Daiei
Takashimaya
Terrace Mall
The Outlets Hiroshima
Timex
Tobu Funabashi
Tokyo Base
Toray International
Trial Holdings
Uniqlo
United Arrows
Uny
Urban Outfitters
Vendome Yamada
Workman
World
Yahoo
Yamato Transport
Yaoko
Z Holdings
Zara
Zozo