Revamped Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi Store Opens in Tokyo

October 24, 2018

Tokyo- Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. reopened on Wednesday its flagship Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Chuo Ward after renovation.

The department store operator drastically changed the interior of the first floor of the store's main building that mainly sells cosmetics and miscellaneous goods.

A customer lounge was newly installed in the building's fifth floor.

The company will beef up its customer services through stationing about 90 employees as concierges, who help customers across building floors and brands.

"(The store) was renovated for the first time in some 30 years," Isetan Mitsukoshi President Toshihiko Sugie said at a ceremony held before the store's opening. "We'd like to build an image of hospitality provided by a department store of the future."

Staff with a lot of sales experience or expert knowledge fill the roles of concierges.

The concierges, who respond to the specialized requests of customers, are sorted into seven categories, such as women, men, kimono, and jewelry and watches.

They share customers' purchase history, which had been kept separately by each department store section, for better customer services. Isetan Mitsukoshi started renovation work at the Nihonbashi store in 2017.

It hopes to finish the second stage of remodeling by the end of fiscal 2019. Through the workover, it plans to expand the lineup of luxury brand items, such as wristwatches and jewelry, which are popular among foreign tourists visiting Japan, in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Jiji Press