Heavyweight! “Isetan closes stores, exits China?

The oldest department stores in China are going through another round of reshuffling. This time, Isetan, which has been in China since 1993, will not be able to survive!

According to the latest information, Isetan has closed another store and has basically left the Chinese market.

The store that was closed this time, Isetan on Nanjing Road in Tianjin, was officially opened back in December 1993 and was Isetan’s 1st store in China! (This year would have been the store’s 30th anniversary.)

I’m sure you should not be unfamiliar with the name Isetan, founded in 1886, is Japan’s national level of a hundred years old trade brand, has opened nearly 30 malls in five countries around the world.

However, from the performance of the data in the past few years, Isetan’s store operation that is definitely quite bumpy.

In September 2007, it closed its Jinan store, which had been open for only 2 years;
In December 2008, the closure of the first store in China, Huating Isetan store;

In June 2013, the Shenyang store stopped operating;

In June 2022, the Chengdu Chunxi store and Gaoxin store ceased operations on December 31 of that year;

Isetan is one of the three dragons in Japan’s department store industry, with Mitsukoshi being the number one store in the Kanto region, Takashimaya in the Kansai region, and Matsuzakaya in the central region of Japan/Nagoya.

If Isetan, how to say, is also considered the second tier, cow is cow in all parts of the cow!

Isetan is one of the best department stores in Tokyo when it comes to fashion, regardless of luxury. The department store is divided into a men’s and a women’s section.

I’ve been hanging out with Hiroshi Fujiwara and Nigo for a long time, and every time there’s a big, heavy sale in the Japanese street fashion scene, Isetan is basically the place to go.

“Isetan” is limited, and everyone who hears this word knows that it’s a tough one. The image that comes to mind is the line at Isetan…

Isetan has also become the place to be for all major brands. Another advantage is that the official stores of light luxury and street fashion brands don’t usually offer discounts.

However, because they are located in Isetan, some brands are able to get hidden discounts directly through their membership cards.

But unfortunately, Isetan is a dragon in Japan, but basically a worm in overseas markets. And it’s not just China that’s not doing so well, in fact Thailand had a wave of Isetan store closures a few years ago. (*The Bangkok branch closed 3 years ago.)

In China, Isetan also has a really long history, in the hearts of many people have a certain status, and accompanied the growth of a generation.

Every time an old department store closes, it is a small era of tears. A similar example to Isetan is: reference December 31, 2022, the 25th anniversary of the investment in China, the Japanese Ito-Yokado Chengdu Chunxi store officially closed.

Currently, Tianjin Isetan has officially issued a notice of closure, confirming that it will officially terminate operations on April 14, 2024!

It’s not what it used to be, and it has been confirmed that Mitsukoshi Isetan Holdings will be closing two of its last three Isetan stores in China.

These are Isetan Tianjin on Nanjing Road and Isetan Tianjin Binhai New Area.

In fact, in the past two years because of the impact of a variety of reasons, Isetan’s business in China’s domestic business has suffered a considerable impact.

Earlier this year, Shanghai Meilongzhen Isetan also announced this year, the beginning of 2024 when the contract officially expires will also follow the trend of store closure.

At this point, only one Isetan store remains in the country, in Tianjin Renheng, but it is not fully operated by Mitsukoshi Isetan Holdings.

Basically, it can be declared that Isetan has officially withdrawn from the Chinese market and called it quits.

There are still five months to go before Isetan officially leaves the Chinese market, I wonder if you have any “Isetan memories”?