Thomas Jastrzab, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, on why the record throngs of international tourists visiting Japan have failed to jolt the country’s department stores out of a slump. (Bloomberg)
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Department stores are losing customers to drugstore chains such as Sundrug Co and Matsumotokiyoshi Holdings Co, which offer discounted cosmetics and perfumes to foreign visitors who are seeking bargai
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David Varnes
Actually, I'd say it's also because visitors are tired of the screeching, noxious fumed 'makeup' areas that smell like a chemical plant and are just three steps short of being assaulted by staff to 'try' something. Add in the massively, ridiculously overpriced and marked up things for sale, and you have a recipe for not selling.
SenseNotSoCommon
Are we seeing the last of the department stores?
They're suffering attrition from the up-and-coming brands they need to increase vital footfall as they cling to the legacy brands decreasingly relevant to the younger (though admittedly less well-heeled) demographic.
smithinjapan
And? What is the guy doing about it besides complaining? Why would you want to wade through a department stores, riding escalators and dealing with the sales staff and pushy customers, when you can be in and out, and pay less, at a small shop just off the street?
Strangerland
He's an analyst. He's not complaining, he's just pointing out why department stores are still in a slump even after the 'bakugai' phenomenon.
JeffLee
Ironically, when I go overseas, my wife often asks me to pick up cosmetics and perfume, since the price and selection in Japan for those products is so mediocre.
kaynide
Not to mention just about every brand they sell in the dept stores is available in a foreigner's home country, and likely cheaper.
People who can afford to visit Japan as tourists did not throw that money down to buy Tommy Hillfiger or Hermes.