Isetan: a Mitsukoshi store in Paris by the autumn

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Mar 15, 2016

Is the Isetan group soon to be back in Paris ? Yes it is, its CEO stated to FashionMag, announcing the project for a Mitsukoshi store in the fall, and mentioning the possibility of undertaking similar initiatives in London and New York.

After leaving the French capital in 2011, the Japanese group is thus planning to return and establish its concept store on the ground floor of Japan Culture House, not far from the Eiffel Tower. The premises are about 100 m² smaller but, in addition to their proximity to the Eiffel Tower, they feature an event area well-suited to showcasing the work of Japanese designers and craftsmen.

"The goal is to display and sell fine Japanese ware, which cannot be found in Parisian stores," explained CEO of Isetan, Onishi Hiroshi, to FashionMag.com, mentioning how a Mitsukoshi store is already established in Rome.

"Of course the objective would be to have a presence in Paris and London, as well as in New York," he stated. "But to be honest, real estate prices are making both New York and London rather unaffordable at the moment. And we've had a nice offer from Paris."

While the Isetan department store traditionally features the group's fashion range, the Mitsukoshi retail brand is oriented to Japanese tradition and expertise. The latter has become one of the group's main growth vectors over the last few seasons. The range of products is designed and manufactured in Japan, allowing the group to qualify for the wide-ranging Japan promotional campaign supported by the national government.

In the fiscal year closed at the end of March 2015, the Isetan group recorded approximately JPY1.2 trillion (€129 billion) in sales in its department stores. In Japan alone, the stores were visited by more than 200 million customers in a year, a number greater than the Japanese population of 127 million.