Reasons behind Takashima's exit from China
4hw.com.cn: in the seventh year of entering China, Takashima house, a high-end department store in Japan, can't survive.
Its only store in China, Shanghai gaodaowu, announced on June 25 that it would terminate its business on August 25, 2019, after which the company entered into liquidation procedures. On the same day, Shanghai Gaodao house also informed all businesses in the store that they should evacuate before August 25, terminate the lease with all businesses in advance, and negotiate with some businesses on Aftermath treatment and other issues from July.
Shanghai gaodaowu said, "due to the unexpected changes in the consumption structure, the intensification of industry competition and the low consumption of physical stores, it is extremely difficult for stores to continue to operate."
On the morning of June 26, the interface news came to Shanghai Gaodao house, phase II of the wealth center in Gubei New District, and found that 'notice of termination of business' was posted on the glass of many gates of the mall, in Chinese, Japanese and English.
Near the noon break, the number of consumers in the retail area in the store is still small. Most of them are people who heard that the store is about to close and stroll around. Relatively speaking, there are slightly more consumers in the catering area and B1 supermarket area. Several clerks told the interface news that they have not received the information of promotion activities before closing the store. In front of the service center counter, some consumers are exchanging points.
In fact, in the past two or three months, there have been rumors that stores in Gaodao house and among merchants in Shanghai are about to close down, but they were suddenly informed that they need to evacuate two months later, which still caught many merchants unprepared. Especially those living service businesses that implement the membership system are faced with thorny problems such as contacting store members and looking for new commercial shops.
Many businesses told the interface news that they usually have to notify businesses to withdraw at least half a year in advance, 'two months is too tight.'
The early education merchant "qiaokem LEGO Learning Center" on the third floor of gaodaowu shopping mall originally signed the lease with the shopping mall. On March 31, 2020, they felt that the lease of gaodaowu was terminated in advance. According to the staff of the center, a large number of members have come to inquire about the closing of the store. At present, they have contacted the owner Shanghai Gubei (Group) The company understands the situation of the takeover operator and strives to stay and continue to operate; At the same time, it also works with other early childhood education merchants to find new sites in nearby areas as alternatives. Consumers of such service institutions often pay more attention to the location and operation stability of merchants' stores.
The relevant person in charge of the catering business' katsukura famous Tibetan fried pork chop 'told the interface news that it will take at least half a year from the site selection, decoration to re opening of the restaurant, and the re opening of the restaurant will also affect the previously accumulated source of customers.
In fact, since Takashima entered the Chinese market in 2012, its operation has been in a continuous downturn, which is also the key reason for its withdrawal.
Founded in 1831, takashimoya currently has 20 stores in Japan. In December 2012, takashimoya opened its first department store in Shanghai, with a store area of 40000 square meters. It is the 23rd store of the brand in the world and the third store in the overseas market. Positioning high-end department stores, the site is also located in Gubei business district, Changning District, where Japanese and Korean people live in Shanghai. The sales of goods are mainly high-end brands. In addition to Japanese beauty brands c.p.b, pola and some Japanese clothing brand counters, there are also imported supermarkets, organic restaurants, etc.
However, since its opening, the popularity of Shanghai Gaodao house has not been prosperous.
In September 2013, facing the pressure, Takashima house, which has been in business for a short time, made personnel changes and brand structure adjustment, and successively lowered its initial sales target from 13 billion yen to 5-6 billion yen. However, it is still depressed after adjustment. According to the Nikkei Chinese website, its operating revenue in fiscal 2018 (as of February 2019) was 3.2 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of only 0.7%, and its operating profit and loss was 900 million yen, with operating losses for seven consecutive years.
In recent years, the decline of physical retail groups represented by department stores, the mismatch between the high-end positioning of gaodaowu and the location of community business district, and the insufficient localization of company operation and management are all the reasons for the closing of gaodaowu in Shanghai.
"Takashima entered China at a bad time when the department store industry was in a downward cycle." Said Zhou Changqing, general manager of RET Ruiyi Dehua East.
Around 2012, the traditional physical retail industry has been impacted by e-commerce and new shopping center formats, and there is great pressure of competition and reform. Many department store brands that have developed in China for many years have entered the trend of closing stores since then. It is difficult for Takashima, which copy the Japanese business philosophy and do not deeply tap the local consumer demand, to stand out.
On the other hand, Gubei, which is positioned as a high-end but located in a non municipal business district, has also caused the congenital deficiency of Shanghai Gaodao house. " As the first project of Gaodao house expected by all parties in China, its positioning must be relatively high-end, in order to establish a radiation force for the city's customers by virtue of brand effect and excellent quality of the project. However, due to the geographical location, regional business level and consumer group characteristics of Gubei business district, it is difficult for a single project to leverage the potential energy of the business district. The return to community business positioning is faced with problems such as high cost and difficult adjustment. " Zhou Changqing said.
In terms of retail brands, the brand price of Shanghai Gaodao house is on the high side, but due to the small project volume, the brand richness is not enough. China business data has compared the brand characteristics of Takashima house in Shanghai and Tokyo. The data show that the retail of Takashima house in Tokyo is mainly European and American high-end brands, while Shanghai Takashima house is mostly Japanese brands, which not only has high price, but also has low popularity in China. In addition, the customers from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan around the shopping mall often leave the country, and the demand for buying European and American brands in China is relatively small, which further weakens the attraction of Takashima house to the surrounding customers.
Many consumers living in Gubei community told the interface news that the service of gaodaowu is good and they often go to supermarkets and catering areas. However, because they can't find their favorite brands and styles, they rarely buy clothes and shoes in gaodaowu and spend more in Xujiahui (8.590,0.00,0.00%), Jing'an Temple and other business districts.
Compared with high-end department stores, community-based business districts need more 'shopping centers' with rich business forms and complete supporting facilities.
In terms of business format, although Gaodao house has life service formats such as early education, beauty and fitness, it is not rich enough to provide a 'one-stop' experience for most mature family consumers in the community. A parent of a young child living nearby told interface news that she usually chose Nanfeng city in Hongqiao with more parent-child businesses for the weekend.
In fact, Shanghai Gaodao house has also made many adjustments in business formats, such as increasing the proportion of catering and children's business formats, reducing the proportion of clothing brands, adjusting self owned brands, adding Japan Pavilion, fresh market supermarket, etc. However, because the volume is not large enough, it is difficult to make large adjustment. Lianshang.com quoted insiders as saying that Shanghai gaodaowu also planned to expand a shopping center project and introduce entertainment formats such as cinemas, but the project was finally won by SOHO.
The impact of e-commerce and the rise of cross-border shopping have also robbed a considerable number of consumers of physical commerce. Japan has become an important destination for domestic cross-border travel in recent years, which further weakens the attraction of Shanghai gaodaowu to local people.
"The time, location and people of the day are unfavorable to Takashima house, and the fate of the project is difficult to change." Zhou Changqing said.
In addition, the localization operation and management of Takashimaya in China are not in place.
A former employee who was responsible for the public relations communication of Takashima house in Shanghai told the interface news that she believed that Takashima house copied the Japanese business philosophy to China, lacked the sense of localization, and did not have a good understanding of the location of the business district, the understanding of the target customers and the communication of its own brand. " Chinese consumers still have a certain degree of price sensitivity. Takashima products lack price competitiveness and are even more expensive than those in Japan. Many brands have withdrawn from the cabinet one after another in the early stage. " In addition, there are also conflicts between different cultural concepts between China and Japan in Takashima's internal management, and the running in is not enough.
After it withdrew from China, who took over the property where Takashimaya was located has also become a hot topic in the industry. According to lianshang.com, there is a sound inside Gaodao house that China Resources Land has taken over. The original site may be transformed into Zeng Vientiane Hui or Vientiane space, but China Resources has no relevant information.
Although it withdrew from the Chinese market, Takashima house did not give up expanding overseas markets. In the future, it will focus its business on the expansion in Southeast Asia. For example, in Vietnam, Takashima plans to open new stores this year and expand the store area of Takashima in Ho Chi Minh City. At present, Takashimaya has four stores overseas. Besides Shanghai, which is about to close, it has also opened stores in Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.