Domestic Sales Agreement for Happy Socks and Directly Operated Stores Business

「In the directly operated sales business, sales fell below the previous year due to the withdrawal of the Happy Socks brand, while sales at the other stores were broadly in line with the previous year.」

「In the retail business, customer traffic at the Harajuku Takeshita Street store increased with rising inbound demand, while stronger product offerings for visitors to Japan led to progress exceeding plan.」

「In directly operated store sales, sales expanded significantly as inbound customer traffic at Happy Socks stores increased and contributed to tax-free sales.」

「At Happy Socks directly operated stores, customer traffic increased with the rise in visitors to Japan, and Japan-exclusive Japanese-patterned products and collaboration socks with Star Wars sold well. Gift promotional items tied to various events were also well received, and sales increased year on year.」

「In directly operated store sales, Happy Socks worked to promote a diverse range of packaged products for gift demand. Sales moved toward recovery as store traffic increased with the recovery in inbound demand, supported by tax-free sales at the Harajuku Takeshita Street store.」

「In directly operated store sales, store traffic was weak and in-store sales struggled due to restrictions on activities and requests to refrain from going out amid the spread of the Omicron variant. At Happy Socks, we focused on expanding sales by increasing the product mix of miscellaneous items such as underwear and swimwear, responding to gift demand and raising average spend per customer.」

「At Happy Socks stores, “Happy Socks Candy Café,” which opened at Ikspiari® in late April, was well received as an entertainment experience offering confectionery from around the world by weight and original gifts combining socks with other items. Its customer base expanded to teenagers and families, making it the largest store by sales scale among Happy Socks directly operated stores, and the new format combining a candy shop and café stand got off to a strong start.」

「At Happy Socks Candy Café at Ikspiari®, we held a separate-location pop-up event during the Halloween period and worked to direct customers to the sales floor. We also focused on increasing sales of paired-sock gifts for parents and children and couples as a measure to raise average spend per customer.」

「At Happy Socks stores, “Happy Socks Candy Café,” which opened at Ikspiari® in late April, was well received as an entertainment experience offering confectionery from around the world by weight and original gifts combining socks with other items. Its customer base expanded to teenagers and families, making it the largest store by sales scale among Happy Socks directly operated stores, and the new format combining a candy shop and café stand got off to a strong start.」

「The Happy Socks directly operated store business opened a new format, “Happy Socks Candy Café,” combining a candy shop and café stand at Ikspiari®, a commercial facility within Tokyo Disney Resort®, and launched a new experiential retail business in collaboration with a company from another industry.」

「Meanwhile, the directly operated store business centered on Happy Socks struggled due to the continued decline in customer traffic caused by prolonged closures of commercial facilities under the state of emergency and requests to refrain from going out, as well as lower inbound demand resulting from entry restrictions on visitors to Japan.」

「In directly operated store sales, Happy Socks fell short of the previous year, due to lower inbound demand resulting from travel restrictions and the slow recovery in customer traffic at urban stores, which had traditionally attracted large numbers of customers.」

「The Happy Socks directly operated store business faced challenging conditions, significantly affected by lower inbound demand and voluntary business suspensions following the issuance of a state of emergency.」

「The Happy Socks directly operated store business faced challenging conditions due to the cancellation of all special-order product plans and pop-up shops planned for TOKYO2020, lower inbound demand and temporary closures of directly operated stores following the issuance of a state of emergency.」

「In the new retail business, we expanded the scale of operations for Happy Socks, the global Swedish brand launched in January 2019, by opening new permanent stores at SOTETSU JOINUS Yokohama, Umeda LUCUA 1100 and Minami-Machida Grandberry Park, in addition to the 4 existing stores in Harajuku, Shinjuku, Marunouchi and Sapporo.」

「Happy Socks, which launched its directly operated store business in January 2019, opened its first flagship store in the Kansai region at LUCUA 1100 in Osaka. An opening-day party was held with influencers invited, and the store was busy with television crews also conducting interviews. In September, a pop-up shop created in collaboration with a company from another industry was opened at Yurakucho Marui, where the socks-and-donuts gift boxes were well received.」

「Happy Socks, which launched its directly operated store business in January 2019, focused on operating 4 permanent stores in Harajuku, Shinjuku, Marunouchi and Sapporo, as well as a booth at “The Rolling Stones Exhibition” held at TOC Gotanda Messe and pop-up shops at Yokohama Minato Mirai Tokyu Square and other locations, launching the retail business as planned.」

「In the retail business, sales at the Happy Socks directly operated store business, launched in January 2019, were broadly in line with plan, supported by a collaboration project with The Rolling Stones and sales at limited-time pop-up shops held at 10 locations, including Ginza Six.」

「In January 2019, we also entered into a domestic sales agreement with the global Swedish brand Happy Socks and launched our directly operated store business.」