[Exterior of Cath Kidston shop in Tokyo]
[Customers browsing Cath Kidston products]
[Products with London scenery print]
Miki Yamada (interview): “You can imagine things like London buses, British soldiers, that kind of street scenes, or cute, colourful pastel drawings of children’s rooms – those kinds of scenes. It really makes you want to have it.”
Cath Kidston customer (interview): “(The designs) don’t really overlap with other things, I think it has personality and it’s cute.”
[Customer buying a product at Cath Kidston]
[Cath Kidston products]
Tiara Simmons (interview): “I think they see potential in Japan. I’m not sure about the numbers but I think Cath Kidston in Japan is pretty big compared to other franchise partners. We will have like six stores in a year and that’s a lot.”
[Cath Kidston shop exterior]
[People walking in Tokyo shopping district near Cath Kidston]
[‘GAP’ store exterior in Tokyo]
[Dean & DeLuca shop]
[Penny Luo, president of Barneys Japan, explaining products inside Barneys store]
[Barneys logo on products]
Penny Luo (interview): “Barneys was something that appeared in many different places, like lines in movies, dialogue in TV dramas, or parts of novels. It was a brand that was truly loved by a wide range of celebrities and influential people. So in that sense, Barneys New York really became a kind of cultural icon. And so, when it came to Japan, there were a lot of customers who were genuinely thrilled; ‘It’s that Barneys, it has come to Japan!’ I believe that the image and status that Barneys developed in New York is something that people in Japan can still understand and appreciate.”
[Shop floor inside Barneys Japan]
[Barneys men’s wear]
Penny Luo (interview): “But when it comes to young people, like those in their 20s now, I’m not sure how much they really understand (about Barneys). Most of them would probably say things like, “My mom used to shop there,” or “My grandmother used to go shopping there.” There are quite a few people like that. That’s why the question becomes: how do we connect this to the next generation? As I mentioned earlier, we want to do things like pop-ups or create experiential stores, and through that, we’d like to show new customers what Barneys is about.”
[Barneys Japan products]
Penny Luo (interview): “What we’ve come to realise after doing business in Japan for 30 years with Barneys is that our current domestic customers in Japan place a great deal of importance on things like their relationship with the staff, their connection to the store itself, and the level of trust they have in that store.”
[Shop floor of Barneys Japan]
Penny Luo (interview): “The reason why so many people have shopped exclusively at Barneys for 10 years, even over a span of 30 years, is probably because of the customers’ values – things like their emphasis on human relationships and connections. I think a lot of them have that kind of mentality or way of thinking.”
[Tokyo skyline]
Jusuke Ikegami (interview): “It’s very much my personal guesstimation but probably next stage Japanese company and foreign companies will make some good alliance to go outside Japan, maybe in ASEAN.”
[Shoppers in Ginza]
Jusuke Ikegami (interview): “So anyway, Japan has the highest potential in international tourism. So, and then, as you may know, Chinese and maybe Asians are coming down to Japan. So if those European countries, or American countries, will use Japan as a showcase to those ASEAN, including China, because they buy a lot.”
[Shop window in Ginza]
Jusuke Ikegami (interview): “So Japanese companies are pretty good in adaptation and Kaizen. And then US and European, the Western companies, (have) their brand and product and format. So if they make some good alliance hand in hand and then get out in some other ASEAN counties, so they could have better production line in Asia and then need some Kaizen process.”
[People walking in Shinjuku]
Jusuke Ikegami (interview): “So this kind of outside Japan international alliance strategy will be kind of a new format, new business strategy and next stage.”
[Shopping district in Tokyo]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.