Louis Vuitton, Tiffany leave Japan's regional stores to US brand Coach
Department stores look for new ways to bring luxury brands to shoppers
Louis Vuitton shuttered its location in the Keisei Department Store in Mito, Ibaraki prefecture at the end of last year. (Photo by Naho Kondo)
YURIKA YONEDA and MOE SAITO
TOKYO -- Major overseas luxury brands are pulling their outlets from department stores in areas outside Japan's major urban centers, leaving store managers struggling to keep their customers happy.
American luxury jewelry brand Tiffany closed its outlet on the first floor of the Keisei Department Store in the city of Mito last month. The move came after France's Louis Vuitton left the same store in December. The two had been the only directly operated outlets in Ibaraki prefecture, on the outskirts of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. Their former locations remain covered in the department store.
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Nikkei Asia
a day ago
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Louis Vuitton, Tiffany leave Japan's regional stores to US brand Coach
Retail Department stores look for new ways to bring luxury brands to shoppers Louis Vuitton shuttered its location in the Keisei Department Store in Mito, Ibaraki prefecture at the end of last year. (Photo by Naho Kondo) YURIKA YONEDA and MOE SAITO TOKYO -- Major overseas luxury brands are pulling their outlets from department stores in areas outside Japan's major urban centers, leaving store managers struggling to keep their customers happy. American luxury jewelry brand Tiffany closed its outlet on the first floor of the Keisei Department Store in the city of Mito last month. The move came after France's Louis Vuitton left the same store in December. The two had been the only directly operated outlets in Ibaraki prefecture, on the outskirts of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. Their former locations remain covered in the department store.
Japan Today
2 days ago
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Trump's tariff pressure pushes Asia toward American LNG, but at the cost of climate goals
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Japan Today
2 days ago
- Japan Today
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Mazda Motor employees walk at the company's main plant in Fuchu-cho, Hiroshima Prefecture, on July 15. By Tamiyuki Kihara and Tom Bateman When car maker Mazda sneezes, everyone catches a cold, say people in its hometown of Hiroshima in western Japan, but these days, auto parts maker Yuji Yamaguchi fears a deep chill is on the way. "If Mazda builds fewer cars, our orders will drop," said Yamaguchi, whose 110-year-old firm, Nanjo Auto Interior, has almost 1,000 employees making door panels and other parts for the automaker, which accounts for more than 90% of its sales. "The key thing is whether we can remain profitable with lower volumes." The economic engine of Hiroshima, a manufacturing hub 800 km (500 miles) southwest of Tokyo, Mazda faces U.S. tariffs of 25% on automobiles, a dispiriting prospect for an electorate already battling inflation and a weak economy. Mazda Motor brand cars are displayed at a car dealership in Hiroshima. 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Mazda has set up a tariff strategy team that was meeting each week in Hiroshima, said one company insider, speaking on condition of anonymity. But Mazda faced constraints in finding ways to tackle the tariffs from a labour shortage in the United States, that kept it from boosting capacity at its sole plant there, operated with Toyota, the source added. Mazda said overtime cuts and a business travel review were part of its drive to cut 100 billion yen in costs. Essential travel continued, but it was evaluating whether accompanying staff were necessary, it said. The company set up a team to monitor tariffs and was working with suppliers and dealers, it said, adding that key to increasing supply to the U.S. market were its efforts to tackle labour shortages and strengthen the supply chain. For now, parts supplier Yamaguchi said he was not considering specific steps to counter the tariffs. "In business, we need to have long-term vision," Yamaguchi said, likening the moment to the COVID-19 pandemic, when his company posted a loss in 2020 but returned to profit the next year by working to boost efficiency rather than cutting costs. "If we don't invest in 2025, we might miss opportunities." © Thomson Reuters 2025
