Isetan Mitsukoshi: a Parisian opening to gauge the French market

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jul 19, 2016

Before the end of the year, the Japanese department store retailer will launch a Parisian store dedicated to Japanese lifestyle. As FashionMag reported back in March, the store will be located within the Japan Culture House. For Isetan, it will also be a trial run ahead of more ambitious Parisian projects. 

"For the time being, revenue is not an objective. Rather, the goal is to gauge the French public's reaction, letting French consumers discover Japan and our range via this first showcase," explained Takiguchi Kazuo, Executive Director of the group's administrative division. "It is an investment in image, and a long-term one," further stated the director, confirming that the opening is expected for either September or October.
 
The 90 m2 store will be located on the ground floor of the Japan Culture House. For its launch, the focus will be on the Japanese art of tea-making, the Chabako, featuring tea ceremony demonstrations for Parisians and tourists alike.  Such a cultural approach will not prevent Isetan Mitsukoshi from highlighting its own products. A pop-up area within the store will showcase a series of collaborations with Japanese designers, notably for accessories and apparel.

Though it will not be a department store, this first kernel could become the cornerstone of Isetan's deployment in France, and outside Asia in general.

Mitsukoshi stores existed in Paris and London in the past, but they are no longer active. Only the Rome store is still operational, while the retail concept has in the meantime been established throughout South-East Asia. Isetan is cautious about a return to France, due to "the excessive number of real estate constraints involved in creating a department store project from the outset."
 
In the fiscal year closed at the end of March 2015, the Isetan group recorded approximately JPY1.2 trillion (€129 billion) in sales in its department stores. In Japan alone, the stores were visited by more than 200 million customers in a year, a number greater than the Japanese population of 127 million. The results for the latest fiscal year are expected to be published in the forthcoming weeks.