April 2026 Issue
Hands: still eclectic at 50 and growing again
Hands will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. Now growing again under new owners Cainz after a calamitous decline during Covid, the more modernised chain retains much of its original eclectic character based on its huge range of items – but now it can actually do so profitably.
Editorial: Curation and loyalty
Seibu Shibuya to close as group rebuilds delayed
As expected, Sogo Seibu will close Seibu Shibuya later this year. It is the end of an era but the need to build a modern store format was not viable on land Fortress doesn’t own and its attention is needed elsewhere given major delays on rebuilds, closure of space, and worries over the future of its outlying stores.
Robin Food: retail radicalism
Robin Food, PPI’s new supermarket banner, has launched with a name denoting prices so low it’s like robbing the rich to feed the poor. In reality, the new ‘food-focused Don Quijote’ will attract customers at all income levels with a radical new format that will disrupt a sector already reeling from the rise of discounters like Lopia and OK Super.
Haera luxury mall to cement J Front’s Sakae destination
J Front’s new luxury mall in the heart of Sakae in Nagoya brings Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Cartier under one roof alongside Parco-curated culture retail – a new type of format that will add further support for mixed department store and mall entertainment elements in a single unified retail offer.
Human Made: 32% margins buy a Harajuku flagship
Human Made will open its first flagship in Harajuku this summer, spending some of the lucrative gains it extracts from a business whose operating margins reached as high as 36% in some quarters last year. Sales rose 27% last year and another 30% increase is expected this year.
Points work: Loyalty Beyond Discounts
Reward schemes are ubiquitous in Japan and, according to a recent survey, nine out of ten users actively participate in at least one and 30% five or more. With AI analysis and real-time purchase recommendations becoming more common, the importance of these programmes will only grow.
Musinsa expansion continues
Korean fashion platform Musinsa grew Japan GTVs a reported 2.4-fold in 2025, exceeding ¥1.1 billion monthly, driven by a Zozo partnership now spanning 2,000 brands, five popup stores, and a refund policy that lifted repurchase rates 53%. Another popup will open this month in Shibuya with plans for a permanent store in the offing.
Gen Z men hang out more with mum
Hakuhodo research shows Gen Z men are closer to their mothers than previous generations, shopping, travelling, and even sharing beauty routines together. This could create rich marketing opportunities for joint experiences, shared grooming, fashion, and lifestyle brands.
Seven Eleven hopes better products will boost popularity
Seven & I has finally separated Seven Eleven from its less successful businesses, but faces ever-increasing pressure from re-energised rivals and a host of new competing chains and formats. With the possibility that many franchisees could retire in the next few years, it needs new ideas to recapture a youth segment which shops elsewhere.
Yahoo to charge fees again
LINE Yahoo will reintroduce merchant fees on Yahoo Shopping from September, ending twelve years of free trading. The company hopes a monthly charge and sales royalty will flush out dormant stores, improve platform quality, and help fund rising AI costs.
Profit worries at department stores on inbound dependence
Warning China not to invade Taiwan might sit well with voters but since November, Japan has lost just under ¥150 billion in sales from mainland Chinese tourists alone. So far, the top department stores have proven resilient but since recent profit growth has been so dependent on duty-free sales, international tensions are a worry.
FOCUS:
Food, Scripts and Lipsticks: Japan’s drugstores
Drugstores have become Japan’s most dynamic brick‑and‑mortar format, expanding far beyond their pharmaceutical roots into food, beauty, household goods and healthcare services. Chain operators now control two thirds of the ¥15 trillion health & beauty market and food & drug hybrids, inbound tourism, aggressive private‑brand development and a rapid build‑out of dispensing pharmacies are transforming drugstores into de facto neighbourhood one-stop-shop and health hubs – and 97% of inbound tourists say they shop there too.
Data: Shopping malls up 3.3%, department stores 1.6%
IN BRIEF
Tokyo Base: record sales
L Catterton: ¥50 billion push into consumer market
Oimachi Tracks: a new open retail format for JR East
Mitsukoshi Ginza duty-free store to close in September
8 overseas brands among leaders in Nikkei survey
Ito-Yokado to increase generic PB sales by 20%
Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and Chanel top used market
Amazing Cre opens first Japan store in Omotesando
Vannelli Coffee opens in Tokyo at ¥4,000 a cup
Harley Davidson opens apparel store
Amazon launches Amazon Now in Japan
Itochu hopes for ¥3 billion in water bottle sales
Mash signs with Sanrio
malls grow 2.7% in 2025
Lumine changes 130 stores
Capsule toys in regional department stores
Yamazawa to focus on Yamagata
Regal cuts back
Retailers rush to fill the hole left by Wolt
New law to ease creation of shipping relay points
54 large stores approved in December
Matsukiyo introduces new support for female staff
Brands and Companies in this Issue
Aeon, 1, 5, 11, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20
Ain Holdings, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Aisei Yakkyoku, 18, 19
Amazing Cre, 6, 7
Amazon, 5, 8, 9, 12
Arcs, 11
Atre, 4
Beisia, 1, 5
Bottega Veneta, 4
Boucheron, 4
Bulgari, 6, 7
Cainz, 1, 3, 5, 13
Cartier, 6, 7
Cawachi Yakuhin, 17, 18, 20
Chanel, 6
Chubu Yakuhin, 18
Cocokara Fine, 18
Cosmos Yakuhin, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Create SD Holdings, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Daimaru-Matsuzakaya,13
Demae-can, 8, 12
Diesel, 7
Diptyque, 6
Don Quijote, 4, 5, 9
Doshisha, 8, 9
eBay, 9
Etro, 4
Etvos, 4
Foodpanda, 8
Fortress Investments, 4
Francfranc, 19
Fuji Yakuhin, 18, 19
Genky DrugStores, 5, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Goldwin, 7
Gucci, 4
Haagen-Dazs, 5
Haera, 1, 6, 7
Hands, 1, 3
Hankyu, 1, 6, 7, 13
Harley-Davidson, 7, 8
Hermes, 4, 6
Hulic, 7
Human Made, 7
Isetan-Mitsukoshi, 6, 13
Itochu Shoji, 8, 11
J. Front Retailing, 6, 7
JR East, 4
JR West, 7
Kapital, 3
Kirindo HD, 18
Kisshokichi, 4
Kokumin, 17
Komehyo, 6
Kusuri no Aoki, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
L Catterton, 3, 7
Lalique, 7
Lawson, 11, 18
LINE Yahoo, 12
Louis Vuitton, 6
Lumine, 9
Mamy Mart, 13
Marui, 8
Mash Style Lab, 9
Matin Kim, 9
Matsubishi, 10
Matsukiyo Cocokara, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Medical Ikko HD, 17
Midwest, 6
Mitsukoshi, 1, 4, 13
Musinsa, 1, 8, 9
Nana-Chiki, 12
NEWoMan, 9
Nihon Chozai, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
NTT Urban, 4
Nugu, 9
Oddtype, 9
Oimachi Tracks, 4
OK Super, 4
Oni-Go, 8
Otonari Mart, 5
Pan Pacific International, 4, 5, 12
Parco, 4, 6, 7, 9
Patek Philippe, 6
PayPay, 8, 12
Pharma Mirai, 18
Piago, 5
Pupure Himawari, 17
Qol HD, 17, 18, 19
Qoo10, 9
Rakuten, 8, 12
Regal, 11
Robin Food, 1, 4, 5
Rolex, 6
Saikaya, 10
Sanko Foods, 11
Sanrio, 9
Satsudora HD, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20
Seibu, 1, 2, 3, 4
Seki Yakuhin, 18
Seven Eleven, 10, 11, 12
Shoplist, 9
Snoopy, 9
Sogo Seibu, 2, 3, 4
Style Factory, 3
Sugi HD, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Sukima, 6
Sumitomo Shoji, 18
Sundrug, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20
Takashimaya, 6, 7, 13
The North Face, 7
Tokyo Base, 3
Tomods, 18
Tsuruha HD, 1, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Uber Eats, 8, 12
United Arrows, 9
Uny, 4, 5
Uny Piago, 5
Valentino, 4
Valor HD, 18
Vannelli Coffee, 7
WAON Point, 17
Welcia, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Whizzy, 9
Yahoo, 1, 12
Yahoo Shopping, 12
Yakuodo HD, 17, 18, 20
Yamazawa, 10, 11
Yodobashi, 3
Zozo, 8, 9