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Tag: Tsutaya

  • Tsutaya to Open First Thailand Store in Bangkok in October

    Tsutaya to Open First Thailand Store in Bangkok in October

    Culture Convenience Club, operator of Japanese bookstore chain Tsutaya, will open its first store in Bangkok in October.

    The Tokyo-based company is expanding across Southeast Asia as interest in Japanese content such as anime and manga continues to rise.

    The Lifestyle Retail Formula

    The operator is building its Asian strategy around a mix of bookshelves, restaurants, and community spaces.

    Selling physical books alone carries thin margins in high-rent metropolitan malls. Integrating dining, curated lifestyle products, and fandom merchandise gives the operator higher basket values and longer dwell times per visitor.

    Competitive Terrain in Bangkok

    Bangkok already hosts established Japanese retail operators, including Kinokuniya and specialized character-goods shops. Tsutaya enters the market by pitching a broader lifestyle proposition rather than running as a pure bookseller.

    For mall landlords, experiential book concepts act as steady foot-traffic anchors. The operational challenge lies in maintaining novelty once the initial opening buzz fades, particularly among younger shoppers who consume digital media rather than physical publications.

    Regional Expansion Drive

    Culture Convenience Club has steadily widened its overseas footprint, adding locations in Taiwan, China, and Malaysia. The Thai launch extends that Asian network into one of the region’s most active consumer retail hubs.

    The Bangkok branch opens its doors in October, with the operator monitoring initial store traffic before committing to further sites across the country.

  • Japan’s Tsutaya Books opens first China outlet

    Japan’s Tsutaya Books opens first China outlet

    Famed Japanese franchise Tsutaya Bookstore said at the ongoing Shanghai Book Fair that its first branch in the city is scheduled to open in December.

    The bookstore chain has joined hands with major Chinese property developer Vanke to build an artistic outlet in the Changning District of Shanghai, which will be on a par with its famous branch in the Ginza Six shopping center and its flagship store in Daikanyama in Tokyo.

    Takuya Nomura, general manager of Tsutaya Investment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., said Tsutaya’s new store will be located in the Columbia Circle, a redeveloped culture park with preserved, old mansion-compound and industrial buildings, widely known for the Columbia Country Club in the 1920s.

    The new two-story bookstore will cover an area of 2,000 square meters and provide a large collection of selected books and limited commodities, as well as rich experiential activities, according to Tsutaya.

    The book retailer, an affiliate of the Tokyo-based culture and entertainment service group Culture Convenience Club Co., ran about 1,198 outlets around the world.

    The new Shanghai outlet is aimed at providing Chinese readers with more lifestyle choices and enhancing the public’s perception of beauty, said Shohei Matsuo, producer of the new store, who also noted that more clerks will be recruited in China.

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  • Ebetsu Tsutaya Books: A community space that’s more than just a public building

    Ebetsu Tsutaya Books: A community space that’s more than just a public building

    Tsutaya Books commissioned Hikohito Konishi / HIKOKONISHI ARCHITECTURE Inc. to design the company’s twentieth store since its restructuring, located in the city of Ebetsu, Hokkaido. The site is adjacent to Ebetsu’s Four Seasons Promenade, a landscaped walking path, and faces a wooded area with many large trees. With a store concept of “a slow-life library in the woods,” our focus was on creating a comfortable space for customers to enjoy.

    In order to reduce the volume of the 140-meter-long structure, we divided it into three blocks and five zones with a staggered layout. The blocks form a cohesive cluster of buildings whose trimmed-back scale is effective in attracting more people. The exterior is finished with bricks from three local companies, creating a strong contrast with the surrounding greenery. We expect the bricks to age beautifully, along with the extruded cement panels on the sides of the buildings.

    The three blocks are assigned the respective themes of Mind, Life, and Food, and their interiors are configured to offer framed views of the forest as well as a sense of unity. The locally produced bricks, concrete floors, exposed steel frames, and wood-and-steel furniture all contribute to the tranquil atmosphere inside, as does the lighting design.

    The store hosts nearly 50 events every month and over 500 throughout the year, playing a role in the community that goes far beyond that of a typical public building. It is not only a commercial facility selling books, DVDs, and more, but also a place that strives to create and nurture local culture. This resonates with the commitment of the company’s founder to create places where people gather—and with our concept of a “slow life” bookstore in Hokkaido.