Japan Keizai Series -  Japan's Apparel Industry

To begin with, retailing in Japan has been extremely difficult for almost two decades since the 1990 Bubble.  I could start by showing graphs of how bad the over marketplace is, but I would rather start by showing how a well managed company is performing in this environment. 

Uniqlo is Japan's largest specialty retailer - sort of like the Japanese version of GAP.  However, unlike GAP, in the Japanese marketplace, Uniqlo has the right product at the right price.  There is really no place to start for understanding apparel trends in Japan as the company is a pure play in apparel, the number are quite "clean".  Uniqlo is not your typical company in this space as they are well managed, and are not shy about closing non performing stores.  The company is a great place to benchmark performance.  In the face of the global credit crisis, 2009 was a terrible year for most but you wouldn't know it from looking at Uniqlo.

Marui, a large department store chain, in contrast was down 8% in 2009 for overall sales, and the Ministry of Finance says that the large department store were off 10.1% in sales for 2009.  Hence, you can see that Uniqlo's performance is actually quite good.   

Other Japanese participants in Japan's apparel market (data from 2008) are

• 5 large department stores chains doing 1409 billion yen or $15.7 billion USD in apparel

• 2 Specialty Retailer" 850 billion yen or $9.5 billion USD in apparel.

• 2 big general merchandisers doing 600 billion yen or $6.6 billion USD.

Names of the companies are below.

 

Apparel Rank	Description		Shares
5+9="#1"	Isetan & Mitsukoshi Department Stores. does US$ 5.9 billion of its 2 department store businesses in apparel.   Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. is a Japan-based holding company mainly engaged in department store business. The Company has five business segments. The Department Store segment is engaged in the sale of garments, daily commodities, household products and foods, among others. The Credit Card and Finance segment is involved in businesses related to credit card, money lending, nonlife and life insurance agency, among others. The Retail and Special Store segment is engaged in the sale of ladies' dresses, garments, dry goods, household products and others. The Fellowship Association segment is engaged in the operation of fellowship association. The Others segment is involved in businesses related to real estate management, manufacturing, import and export, wholesale, logistics, human resource, as well as information processing services. (Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd) http://www.imhds.co.jp/		3099 - Common stock - Tokyo
1	FAST RETAILING CO., LTD. is a Japan-based holding company engaged in the clothing business and does US$4.9 billion in apparel business.   The Company operates in two business segments through the subsidiaries. The UNIQLO segment sells casual clothing in the domestic market, as well as the overseas market under the brand name of UNIQLO. The Apparel-related segment is engaged in the planning, manufacture and sale of clothing in the domestic and overseas markets. The Company has 97 subsidiaries and one associated company (Fast Retailing Co Ltd), http://www.fastretailing.com/		9983 - Ordinary Shares - Tokyo
2	SHIMAMURA CO., Ltd. is a Japan-based company engaged in the operation of chain stores which principally sell apparel goods and does US$4.6 billion in apparel.. The Company primarily operates nationwide chain stores under the name Fashion Center SHIMAMURA, which sells fashion and utility apparel products, as well as related items for females between the ages of 25 and 45. It also operates other stores such as Avail, which sells casual and elegance apparel products and shoes for young people aged 15 to 25, Birthday, which sells baby products, Chambre, which sells fashion accessories for women, as well as Divalo, which offers woman shoes and other apparel items. The Company is also engaged in the operation of apparel products business in Taiwan.  (Shimamura Co)  http://www.shimamura.gr.jp/		8227 - Ordinary Shares - Tokyo
3	Takashimaya Company, Limited does US$4.2 billion or 49% of its department store business  in apparel.  is a Japan based company primarily engaged in the department store business. The Company operates in five business segments. The Department Store segment is engaged in the operation of department stores, specialty stores and restaurants. The Construction Decoration segment is engaged in the interior construction business. The Real Estate segment manages company properties and operates shopping centers. The Financial segment is engaged in the issue of credit cards and the provision of financial services to group companies. The Others segment is engaged in apparel manufacturing and processing, as well as advertising, delivering, leisure-related business and mail order sales.  Takashimaya Co Ltd   http://www.takashimaya.co.jp		8233 - Ordinary Shares - Tokyo
7	MARUI GROUP CO., LTD. does US$2.9 billion or 70% of its department store business in apparel.  Company is a Japan-based company primarily engaged in the retail business. The Company has three business segments. The Retailing segment sells clothing, decorative items, household products and food. The Credit Card segment specializes in credit card business, as well as the provision of consumer loans and insurance products. The Retail-related Service segment is principally engaged in the provision of various services, including cargo transportation, advertising, store decoration, building maintenance and management, information system development and real estate leasing. As of March 31, 2010, the Company had 17 subsidiaries and seven associated companies. (Marui Group Co Ltd)  http://www.0101.co.jp		8252 - Ordinary Shares - Tokyo
8	DAIMARU.  Private.  Does US$2.7 or 53% of its department store business in apparel.