Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in Japan, updated continuously by our newsroom.
Japanese anti-brand retailer Muji has opened a massive 4300sqm store in Osaka featuring its first dedicated fresh department. While the company has offered dried foods, snacks and other foods since it was founded in 1980, and even shelf-stable vegetables in…
A larger line-up of foreign brands for the end-of-year holiday season helped Japanese footwear retailer ABC-Mart grow its operating profit by a better-than-expected 3 per cent to about ¥43 billion (US$406 million) for its year to the end of February. It is…
Indian custom-clothing brand Creyate plans to open stores in Singapore, the US, UK and Dubai after a successful foray into Japan. Owned by Arvind Internet, the company recently opened its first luxury store in the Indian city of Bengaluru and is considering…
Goodbaby International has established its own direct-distribution platform in Japan as it tries to replicate its success in China in other parts of Asia. The parenting-products company, which has seven research and development centres in the US, Europe and…
An Isetan Chengdu/Isetan Supermarket will be opened in the In99 shopping complex in Chengdu Financial City, Gaoxin, next month. It will be opened by Chengdu Isetan, a retail subsidiary of Japan’s Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings. In99 is part of the Chengdu Yintai…
Yahoo Japan Corp. is considering entry into the virtual currency exchange business, according to sources. Via a subsidiary, the company is planning to buy a stake in bitARG Exchange Tokyo, a Tokyo-based exchange operator registered with the Financial Services…
Exports of Swiss watches to Hong Kong rose 35.7 per cent last month, their strongest advance for six years, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. After 44.3 per cent growth in January, China also exceeded the global average with a 21.7 per…
The Trade Ministry has seen the first export of 6 tons of chicken nuggets to Japan on last Wednesday. The nuggets were produced by PT Belfoods Indonesia, the subsidiary of publicly listed PT Sierad Produce. “I congratulate Belfoods for being the first company…
Hong Kong retail rents are expected to move into an “early upswing cycle” this year according to a regional real estate market briefing prepared by Savills. The report details commercial and residential property leasing trends across major Asian markets and…
H&M China launched on Chinese e-commerce platform Tmall, complementing the Swedish clothing retailer’s 400-plus physical stores and HM.com Shop Online. “We are very happy to extend our collaboration with Alibaba by launching H&M and H&M Home on Tmall,” says…
Japanese anti-brand retailer Muji has opened a massive 4300sqm store in Osaka featuring its first dedicated fresh department. While the company has offered dried foods, snacks and other foods since it was founded in 1980, and even shelf-stable vegetables in…
Hermes Asia sales grew 11.3 per cent last year to €1.946 billion (US$2.4 billion) as the luxury retailer set a new record for gross retail margin. The company said the retail market was improving in Hong Kong and Macau, with the Asian market “pursuing its…
Fila Korea has collaborated with Japanese VR game franchise Pokemon on a range of colourful sneakers. Available via Fila South Korea, the limited-edition shoes feature Pokemon characters including Bulbasaur, Charmander, Jigglypuff, Pikachu and Squirtle. The…
Japan’s largest eyewear chain Jins plans to open in Metro Manila this summer. Brought in by Suyen Group, the parent of fashion brand Bench, Jins will add a broad variety of eyewear design to the Philippines. Each Jins store regularly stocks more than 1200…
Italian furniture brand Poltrona Frau has opened its first showroom in Tokyo. Covering two floors, the 366sqm store’s design is inspired by the firm’s Via Manzoni showroom in Milan. Its opening in the culture/fashion/design district of Aoyama represents an…
Cross-border e-commerce platform Ippin Japan Mall has launched one of the internet’s largest sake collections. Ippin, which specialises in direct sales internationally of quality items from Japan, has made available more than 1350 varieties of sake, with…
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