Store Renovations and the Strengthening of Regional and Differentiated Merchandising

「Under our merchandise strategy, we will strengthen efforts to achieve an attractive product lineup, centered on the 5 large stores in eastern and western Japan, one of our strengths. In addition, through the continued enhancement of our distinctive item-focused sales floors, internally curated sales floors and EC operations, as well as the development of new products and experiences, we will work to improve customer satisfaction. We will also improve merchandise margins by strengthening the fashion business, centered on high-margin apparel and miscellaneous goods, through collaboration with key business partners.」

「We will further advance initiatives in collaboration with key business partners, centered on our 5 major stores in eastern and western Japan, one of our strengths. We will strengthen merchandise selections tailored to regional characteristics and expand them to small and medium-sized stores to respond quickly to changing customer needs. We will also advance new product and service development, including the renewed strengthening of “item-based open sales floors” and “proprietary curation sales floors,” as well as the development of distinctive events based on the themes of “lifestyle,” “culture” and “social engagement,” providing a one-stop experience that leverages the strengths of physical stores.」

「By pursuing in tandem stronger sales capabilities that allow us to make proposals based on consumption trends and changing customer needs, and a merchandise selection that combines topicality with quality and responds quickly to needs, sales grew year on year not only for high-priced goods, including luxury brands, but also for fashion-related products such as women’s clothing, men’s clothing and cosmetics.」

「As another new initiative, following the May opening at the Osaka store and the June opening at the Yokohama store, we opened “moi salon et ropé,” a lifestyle shop operated in collaboration with 株式会社ジュン, at the Kyoto store in October. We will continue to expand our merchandise selection and strengthen our sales capabilities to meet customer needs.」

「As another new initiative, we opened “moi salon et ropé,” a lifestyle shop operated in collaboration with 株式会社ジュン, at our Osaka and Yokohama stores. We will continue to expand our merchandise selection and strengthen our sales capabilities to meet customer needs.」

「To strengthen sales capabilities, we are strengthening a merchandise selection that combines topicality with quality and responds quickly to customer needs, while developing talent with strong product-selection skills based on post-pandemic consumption trends. We are also developing new initiatives, including highly current events and promotions, to attract customers to stores, which could not be implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.」

「As an initiative to strengthen sales capabilities aimed at revitalizing department stores whose performance declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are strengthening our apparel offering. We are pursuing collaboration with business partners to achieve mutual prosperity, using each company’s strengths while increasing our autonomy in merchandise selection and improving customer satisfaction in terms of both product quality and volume.」

「As an initiative to strengthen sales capabilities aimed at revitalizing department stores whose performance declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also strengthening our apparel offering. While pursuing collaboration with business partners to enhance our distinctiveness in merchandise selection and achieve mutual prosperity, we will tailor our merchandise selection to the characteristics of each partner and improve customer satisfaction in terms of both product quality and volume.」

「In the next fiscal year, we will establish a new department-store operating model through structural reform at our 5 major stores—Osaka, Kyoto, Nihombashi, Yokohama and Shinjuku—and seek to strengthen the sales capabilities and stabilize the earnings of the department stores that are the source of our Group’s brand value. First, to strengthen sales capabilities, we will reinforce our buying structure in order to achieve our top priority, an “attractive merchandise selection.”」

「To strengthen our sales capabilities, we will work to develop a merchandise selection that meets customer expectations for one-stop shopping, taking into account changes in customer needs since the COVID-19 pandemic.」

「The “Foodies Port 2” food floor at our Yokohama store, which reopened in March after being expanded to become one of Japan’s largest department-store food halls, has been well received by many customers, centered on Bakery Square, which brings together famous bakeries and popular local stores.」

「As we work to revitalize our department stores, we are pursuing cost-structure reform and stronger sales capabilities as two complementary priorities. In cost-structure reform, we worked to reduce operating expenses, including by establishing an appropriate staffing structure and insourcing outsourced operations, together with improving productivity, in order to shift to a system capable of generating stable profits. To strengthen sales capabilities, we are reviewing the content and composition of our merchandise selection as part of our restructuring efforts, including collaborative initiatives based on focused strategies with key business partners to revitalize apparel.」

「Domestic department stores have long recognized issues such as restructuring their cost base and apparel businesses, as well as the way they operate, including the use of digital technologies. These issues became more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic. …We will continue to position the revitalization of department stores, the source and core of the Group’s brand value, as our top priority and work to overcome these challenges.」

「Domestic department stores had long recognized issues such as restructuring their cost base and apparel operations and rethinking their sales operations, including the use of digital technologies, but these issues became even clearer during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, consumer lifestyles and needs regarding merchandise assortments have changed substantially. The company will continue to position the revitalization of department stores, the source of the Group's brand value and its core business, as its highest-priority theme and address these and other issues.」

「For its merchandise initiatives, the company continued developing sales floors using the department store's core strength in curation. At the Osaka store, it introduced Takashimaya Farm in October, a self-curated sales floor offering carefully selected foods focused on taste and food safety and security. At the Yokohama store, ahead of the grand opening of the expanded food floor in spring 2021, it opened Good Morning Table in November in the expanded area as the first permanent store in the Kanto region for the confectionery brand focused on ingredients from Hokkaido.」

「As store initiatives, during the renovation of the Nihombashi store, the company introduced facilities including a rooftop garden of approximately 6,000 sq. m. spanning the Main, New and East Buildings; a new, high-quality drop-off area; and Takashimaya Archives Tokyo, a new cultural hub following the Takashimaya Archives in Osaka, as well as spaces for relaxation and facilities for disseminating lifestyle culture. For its merchandise initiatives, the company continued developing sales floors using the department store's core strength in curation. At the Nihombashi store, it introduced Dress Up Closet, offering dresses for party occasions, and Gallery Le Chic, which selects prestige goods offering the pleasure of discovery.」

「As store initiatives, during the renovation of the Nihombashi store, the company introduced facilities including a rooftop garden of approximately 6,000 sq. m. spanning the Main, New and East Buildings; a new, high-quality drop-off area; and Takashimaya Archives Tokyo, a new cultural hub following the Takashimaya Archives in Osaka, as well as spaces for relaxation and facilities for disseminating lifestyle culture.」

「In the Kanto region, the Nihombashi store was renovated in connection with the opening of Nihombashi Takashimaya S.C., while the Tachikawa store reopened in October as Tachikawa Takashimaya S.C. The company is responding to a broad range of customer needs through the integration of department stores and specialty stores, including the opening of the digital playland DOKO DOKO: Indoor Adventure Island in the specialty-store zone. In the Kansai region, the Kyoto store renovated its floors in September and established Wellbeing Lab, a lifestyle-oriented sales floor themed around wellness and relaxation. In October, the Osaka store expanded and renovated the west zone on the basement floor, creating a comprehensive mix of shops offering books and other items that stimulate intellectual curiosity, robots that enrich daily life, food and more.」

「As store initiatives, ahead of the 25 September opening of Nihombashi Takashimaya S.C., the Pokémon Center TOKYO DX & Pokémon Café opened in the East Building of Nihombashi Takashimaya S.C. in March. The synergies between the Main Building and East Building increased visitor numbers at the Nihombashi store and helped attract new families with children. In August, the company also renovated the living floor at the Shinjuku store, creating a sales floor focused on everyday relaxation. In addition, it opened a new store, Eki-Taka Izumigaoka Takashimaya, in April on the concourse in front of the ticket gates at Izumigaoka Station on the Semboku Rapid Railway in Osaka, with the aim of becoming a store customers could use every day on their way to work or school, while meeting customer needs together with the nearby Senboku store.」

「In March this year, following last year's Osaka store, the company opened Takashimaya Style Order Salon at the Kyoto and Shinjuku stores, a men's made-to-order sales floor for the new generation of businesspeople aimed at “moving from made-to-order for size to made-to-order for individuality.” At Robotics Studio, the department store industry's first permanent robot sales floor, which opened at the Shinjuku store in October last year, the sales-floor area was expanded to approximately twice its previous size, strengthening the assortment of robots and IoT products.」

「For its merchandise initiatives, the company used the department store's curation capabilities to develop curated sales floors, returning to the fundamentals of easy-to-see and easy-to-shop displays. Beginning with the introduction of Wellbeing Field at the Shinjuku store, a floor based on a lifestyle concept aimed at enriching both mind and body, it developed Hello Baby Salon and Dear Kids Square, sales floors proposing lifestyles for families raising children; Suit Closet, which supports working people; Takashimaya Style Order Salon; and Robotics Studio, a specialty sales floor proposing a new lifestyle in which robots and people coexist.」

「As store initiatives, the company opened Hello Baby Salon, a self-curated baby-products sales floor designed to meet the needs and sensibilities of customers raising children, at the Tamagawa store, following its large stores. It also opened Dear Kids Square, a comprehensive lifestyle-oriented sales floor for families raising children created by reorganizing the children's goods section, at the Osaka and Shinjuku stores. Through these initiatives, the company will support customers raising children from the baby stage onward. In addition, it opened Suit Closet, a curated sales floor targeting working women, at the Shinjuku and Yokohama stores. For men's apparel, it opened Takashimaya Style Order Salon, a made-to-order salon for the new generation of businesspeople to enjoy their individuality, at the Osaka store.」

「High-priced goods remained firm, with luxury watches at Takashimaya Watch Maison, now in its second year, posting steady sales growth. As the number of women raising children while working or seeking to enrich their private time increases, the company opened Hello Baby Salon, a self-curated sales floor for baby products designed to meet changing customer needs and sensibilities, at the Kyoto and Yokohama stores in March this year.」

「As one example, the Shinjuku store opened Wellbeing Field, a curated floor proposing a wellbeing lifestyle of “living positively and healthily,” in March this year. It was launched as a new lifestyle-oriented sales floor supporting sophisticated and enriching beauty through an integrated offering of shops, a café, a studio and a fitness gym.」

「With respect to the merchandise assortment, the company sought to enhance each store through the best mix of department stores and specialty stores based on local characteristics. In September, it introduced Nitori Takashimaya Konandai at the Konandai store. To strengthen the department-store-specific merchandise assortment, it also introduced Season Style Lab, a curated shop designed to help adult women upgrade their everyday lives in their own way, at 5 large stores—Osaka, Kyoto, Nihombashi, Yokohama and Shinjuku—and at the Kashiwa store. This created an easy-to-shop assortment of individually curated products and a highly sensitive merchandise mix, areas in which department stores excel. In November, following the Nihombashi store in October two years earlier, it opened Takashimaya Watch Maison at the Osaka store, making a strong start with many customers visiting from across the Kinki region.」

「At the Konandai store, the company renovated floors B1 through 3 ahead of the September opening of the Nitori specialty store, as it pursued reforms to its sales structure from an urban-development strategy perspective.」

「Sales at the Osaka store increased through the thorough implementation of a local merchandise strategy and the strengthening of its differentiated merchandise assortment. At the Kyoto store, the Accessories Annex, which creates a lively atmosphere in the city, opened in May, and the store is bustling following renovations to the food section.」