Isetan Mitsukoshi to open community stores

Japanese department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi is to open a chain of stores catered at fashion-conscious women.

The first two will open in the suburbs of Ome in western Tokyo in September and Sendai in October.

The new openings form part of the company’s goal to boost its network of smaller stores including Mi Plaza and Isetan Mirror to 150 by 2015, a strategy aimed at maintaining sales turnover in an era when department store trading continues to shrink.

Meanwhile, Isetan Mitsukoshi has closed its department store in Shenyang, China due to slowing sales and stiff competition from online retailers. The Shenyang store is the third store Isetan has closed in China.

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