Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in Japan, updated continuously by our newsroom.
Japan’s Pablo cheese tart chain will open its first store in Malaysia in October. Pablo Malaysia will make its debut with a flagship outlet inside 1 Utama shopping centre in Petaling Jaya with more cafes expected in other shopping centre in the Klang Valley…
Japanese convenience store operator Ministop is pulling out of the Indonesian market, at least for the time being. The company announced Friday that it is terminating a franchise agreement with local retailer Bahagia Niaga Lestari, which wants to concentrate…
The Investment Coordinating Board said a Japanese company engaged in fire extinction technology is interested in investing Rp600 billion in Indonesia. The Head of the Board, Franky Sibarani, in a press release received by Antara here on Monday, said the…
A new H&M athleisure wear range is to be launched in July, developed with input from the Swedish Olympic team and fronted by personalities including Caitlyn Jenner. The launch of For Every Victory makes H&M one of the first major multinational fashion brands…
A walking smartphone robot has been launched in Japan by Sharp. Called RoBoHon, it has an Android smartphone for a body with tiny legs and arms. Sharp is producing 5000 RoboHon units a month, each selling for about US$1850, plus monthly charges. Sharp says…
Japanese apparel company Uniqlo has launched a special collection of items featuring traditional motifs of Indonesian batik, a heritage included on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity in 2009. As part of a second program in the Uniqlo…
Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo has leveraged its prowess in mass production to build a fashion empire filled with shelves upon shelves of affordable, good quality items like down jackets, underwear and T-shirts. Now the 17-nation, 1,734-store retailer is on a…
Odaiba’s Aqua City waterfront shopping complex in Tokyo has an unusual lady on the third floor who waits patiently to answer visitor inquiries. Chihira Junco looks exactly like the type of polite, impeccably dressed and well-groomed staff attendant you’d find…
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo announced it has granted a standards-essential patent license for its wireless technologies to equipment vendor Huawei. The operator has now granted patent licenses to more than 10 companies and plans to pursue more such licensing deals in…
Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido has agreed to buy US-based Gurwitch Products from Alticor. This move would add the Laura Mercier and ReVive brands as the 140-year-old cosmetics giant seeks growth overseas in the luxury anti-aging products market. Its…
A restructure of Rakuten Europe will see the Japanese eCommerce company exit two countries to focus on France and Germany. Following a strategic review of its operations in Europe, Rakuten has decided to close its operations in the UK and Spain, due to the…
Uniqlo sales have bounced back from decline, giving parent Fast Retailing a much-needed round of good news for May. Same-store Uniqlo sales in Japan rose 5.9 per cent year-on-year, even though customer traffic fell 3.6 per cent. The average purchase increased…
Convenience store owner Lawson Japan is seeking to buy chains in the US with the aim of boosting its number of overseas outlets by about a quarter within a year. “In the US, where the market is mature, mergers and acquisitions are a simple and straightforward…
Ford Motor said it would recall about 1.9 million vehicles fitted with defective airbag inflators made by Japan’s Takata, in North America. Ford said on Wednesday that the affected vehicles include 2007-2010 Edge, 2006-2011 Fusion, 2005-2011 Mustang,…
American footwear retailer Ugg’s new global retail store concept – part of the brand’s largest re-launch in 37 years – will be introduced in Ugg Asia outlets this year. Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of Ugg’s New York flagship store in SoHo, the new 263…
Japan is starting to lose its edge as a shopping holiday destination for Mainland Chinese. Mainland Chinese shoppers are likely to become increasingly discouraged by the rising value of the Japanese yen against the yuan, according to analysis by Nikkei and…
Weekly Briefing
Monday, Wednesday and a Friday Weekly Wrap: the retail stories, numbers and moves that mattered across Asia. Nothing else, and you can unsubscribe in one click.
Read by retail operators, investors and brand teams across Asia.