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Tag: Isetan Mitsukoshi

  • Isetan Mitsukoshi closing down Ebisu department store

    Isetan Mitsukoshi closing down Ebisu department store

    Isetan Mitsukoshi is to close its 26-year-old Ebisu department store next year after failing to turn around mounting losses.

    The downtown Tokyo store will close in March or April and the company will redeploy all of its staff to other stores.

    The closure is the latest in a long string for the troubled retailer which since 2008 has reduced its network from 29 to 21. With a stagnant economy and Japan’s aging population, many large-scale retailers are finding it tough to maintain growth and some are looking offshore for opportunities.

    The company has spent two years progressively refurbishing the 18,000sqm Ebisu Mitsukoshi department store, with a special focus on its food and cosmetics departments. But the changes failed to draw enough customers to make the store viable.

    When it opened at the Yebisu Garden Place commercial center in downtown Tokyo, the store was expected to tap into a large catchment of nearby condominium residents. However, since the late 1990s, other retail developments have opened nearby, drawing customers away.

    News of the closure was broken by the Nikkei Asian Review, which says the board reached a decision this week and a formal announcement will be made by the end of this month.

    Negotiations over an orderly exit from the space have been underway for the last two years.

    “The facility has likely posted several million dollars in operating losses a year for the last two to three years,” Nikkei reported.

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  • Isetan Mitsukoshi replacing CEO

    Isetan Mitsukoshi replacing CEO

    Japanese department store chain Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings has appointed a new CEO as retailers battle to recover from a sharp fall in shopping spend by tourists.

    In a filing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Isetan Mitsukoshi says senior managing executive officer Toshihiko Sugie will become CEO on April 1, replacing Hiroshi Ohnishi, who had been in the role since 2012.

    Isetan Mitsukoshi says it made the change “to further improve corporate value by installing fresh management”.

    Japanese department store sales fell to less than ¥6 trillion (US$52.70 billion) last year from a 1991 peak of ¥9.7 trillion, with retailers hit by weak economic growth, changing consumer tastes and e-commerce competition.

    There was a brief boom when tourists, especially Chinese, were buying expensive items such as jewellery and watches. This has come to an end despite tourism numbers growing by 21.8 per cent to a record 25 million last year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. More than 70 per cent of tourists came from China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.

    Isetan Mitsukoshi says its duty-free sales fell 19 per cent to ¥36.7 billion over the nine months through December.

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  • Isetan Mitsukoshi launching online store

    Isetan Mitsukoshi launching online store

    As part of its aim to have digital strategy as the core of its business, Japanese department store company Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings is preparing to launch an online store.

    It has started tests leading up to its launch this month of its first online store on Alibaba Group Holding’s Tmall Global.

    In the first half of this year, Isetan Mitsukoshi saw sales of duty-free items rise about 3.7 times compared with the same period in 2013. It says Chinese customers account for about 70 per cent of duty-free sales, and are interested in Japanese products that are popular in Japan. This has led to it seeking to develop a following in China through its strategic partnership with Tmall Global.

    It will offer safe, high-quality products, mainly Japanese, on Tmall Global; form an alliance between its Chinese and Japanese stores; and accumulate know-how on marketing in China.

    Isetan Mitsukoshi will initially offer hundreds of types of products on the platform ranging from fashion and cosmetics to foodstuffs and daily necessities, with plans to subsequently expand the scope of ifs offering.

    It will focus on its own brands and seasonal products, and gradually add other Japanese brands. From next year it will stage special campaigns in collaboration with designers.

    There will also be after-sale services, including repairs, as well as pop-up stores through its network in China.

    Alibaba Group, which runs Tmall – China’s largest B2C online shopping mall – and other eCommerce portals, had 434 million active users on China’s retail market as of June.

    Isetan Mitsukoshi was formed in 2008 by merging Mitsukoshi and Isetan, originally inaugurated in 1673 and 1886 respectively as kimono shops. It runs Japan’s largest department store network with 27 outlets in Japan and 31 overseas.

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  • Isetan Philippines in planning

    Isetan Philippines in planning

    A Japanese department store operator has set its eyes on the Philippines to build commercial-residential facilities by 2022.

    Isetan Philippines will work with Nomura Real Estate Holdings to build properties in Manila. The project is projected to reach approximately $500 million.

    The developer, a rival of Takashimaya, plans to erect four 40-story condo buildings with more than 1500 residential units on a 15,000 sqm lot.

    Isetan’s parent, Isetan Mitsukoshi, will operate a department store and other commercial facilities on the lower levels of the buildings. The retail giant plans to offer products developed in-house in addition to local favourites..

    According to reports, the Philippine project is part of Isetan Mitsukoshi’s Asia’s expansion amid Japan’s shrinking domestic market.

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  • Isetan Mitsukoshi: ‘This is Japan’

    Isetan Mitsukoshi: ‘This is Japan’

    Isetan Mitsukoshi has adopted a new branding positioning – and promises a new in-store concept which will make its debut in Malaysia.

    In a message to shareholders, CEO Hiroshi Ohnishi says the company has adopted a new corporate message for 2015 ‘This is Japan’, which will lead to a new in-store concept shortly to be launched in Kuala Lumpur’s Lot 10 shopping centre.

    “Since generations past when Mitsukoshi and Isetan operated as kimono merchants, we have always had an eye for quality. From the sense of touch as silk meets the skin, the sound as the obi closes, through to the fragrance and taste of the experience – refining the five senses has always been an essential component of our trade.

    “Under our Japan Senses initiative to date, we have also been able to source the very best of Japan’s culture and fine products and deliver this widely to our valued customers,” Ohnishi explains.

    “From now on, we will build on this product range and place a focus on communication in all its forms including the grace and beauty of Japanese omotenashi to present This is Japan as part of our management strategy and further refine our corporate activities.”

    A new ‘Japan mall’ will open inside the Isetan Kuala Lumpur Lot 10 store as part of the company’s overseas launch of This is Japan.

    He explains of the concept: “In 2015, we intend to provide new value and continue to aim toward realising our group vision of being the world’s foremost retail services group.”

    In other moves, in Japan it will remodel the interior and art floor (5F) and baby and childrenswear floor (6F) of its flagship Isetan Shinjuku Main store this spring.

    “We will also open Isetan Salone select stores in Tokyo Midtown, Harajuku Alta in spring, and Japan Duty Free Ginza on the eighth floor of Ginza Mitsukoshi in autumn.”

    Ohnishi says the company’s goal is to create new value to truly move its customers – “by no means an easy task”.

    “Each and every one of our staff must transform themselves to stay ahead of the changing interests of our customers. Because of this, we position employee training and development as the most important action that we can take toward achieving our group vision, and we are reforming our human resource structures with a focus on how our stylists (salespeople), who work in closest contact with our customers, can provide satisfaction and move our customers through the sales experience.

    “In 2015, we will focus even more closely on transforming our storefronts to satisfy our customers.”

    Of 2014, Ohnishi said price levels rose due to the weaker yen as well as April’s sales tax increase.

    “While we have seen signs of recovery in personal consumption in some areas, lacklustre economic conditions are continuing, mainly in the regions.

    “Our business faced reactionary drop-off after the strong demand leading up to the increase in consumption tax; however, the Isetan Mitsukoshi Group has been warmly supported by our customers, and we have turned the corner toward recovery.

    “Nevertheless, we still expect the economic environment to remain severe in the retail industry, and we must further accelerate our corporate reform in order to continue to grow.”

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