It's been nearly 2 years since trendy discount clothing retailer H&M announced that it would enter the Japanese market, and on this Saturday (9/13), the Ginza flagship will finally open its doors. The store is located on Chuo-Doori, almost exactly half way between Ginza and Shinbashi, on what might be considered the outermost edge of the area's fashion core. There has been a fair bit of buzz regarding the opening in the Japanese press, since everybody is waiting to see whether or not the brand will be compelling enough to engage Japan's fashion-conscious consumers.
While launching its first shop in Ginza announces to Japan that H&M wants to be a serious fashion player, starting out in this location does pose some risk. Ginza gets its fair share of pedestrians on the weekends and in on weekday evenings, but that end of the area is almost barren on the typical weekday afternoon. Moreover, the average Ginza shopper tends to skew a bit older than H&M's core target.
On the other hand, just two months after the Ginza opening, H&M's second store will open in Harajuku, this time in a spot that's bang in the center of Japan's trendiest youth district, and just a stone's throw away from one of the country's most influential (and popular) fashion buildings, La Foret (see picture). Since 2005 (and the opening of Omotesando Hills) the number of people flowing into Harajuku has swelled tremendously, and the recent opening of the new Fukutoshin subway station right beneath the Meiji Doori - Omotesando intersection has only amplified the crowds that have long swarmed in front of the GAP and La Foret. No, H&M shouldn't have any problems with traffic in this part of town—here the key test will be conversion, since Harajuku retailers are replete with trendy clothes at reasonable prices.
Similarly, H&M's third Japanese store, a 2,800 square meter shop almost twice the size of the one in Harajuku, will open next year in Shibuya, on a spot just down the street from the 109 fashion complex, another of Japan's trendsetting commercial properties. In my experience, the area around H&M Shibuya will see a fair amount of foot traffic, though not as much as you'd find near the Harajuku location. Nonetheless, Shibuya is a mecca for high school and college age students, and is popular with those in their 20's and early 30's too. These demographics would appear to be ideal for H&M, but only time will tell whether the brand's styling and quality can satisfy the fickle consumers in Shibuya—and the rest of Japan.
