JAPAN: Times are Hard, But Not for Big Spenders

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Jun 29 2001 (IPS) - Yuko Nakai, 22, left home at 5.30 a.m. to be able to shop at the first Hermes store that opened in Japan this week.

“I have been lining up for seven and a half hours today and have still not gotten in,” says the young woman, dressed in trendy capri pants and pink summer knit top when she went to the Hermes outlet as its opened doors on Thursday. “I just have to wait a little longer before I enter, but that’s ok.”

Nakai is almost at the doorstep of the 12-story opaque glass building that houses the products of the French luxury retailer, as well as a museum and cafe. The signature ship cost Hermes 17 billion yen, or 137.4 million U.S. dollars.

The store, which is in the Ginza, Japan’s most exorbitant shopping street, is as large as the original in Paris and was designed by the well-known Italian architect, Renzo Piano.

Behind Nakai snakes a long line of mostly young women with a sprinkling of well-dressed men who wait patiently to do their shopping on the first day of business.

Guards, dressed in black suits, watch over the crowd. One of them said some customers had slept on the street the night before to be able to be in front of the line that began to form at the crack of dawn Thursday.

That day, the chairman of Hermes, Jean-Louis Dumas-Hermes, thanked the Japanese, the company’s most loyal customers who account for 25 percent of global turnover for the brand famed for its leather goods, silk ties and scarves. France brings in 17 percent of the fashion giant’s sales.

Hermes stores directly run by the home office already exist in Japan, but this is the first store building to house only Hermes in the country. Japanese media reports that the French brand is planning to open another store in the Ginza in December.

The lines at the Hermes shop show that Japan’s obsession with expensive European goods has far from changed, despite the recession.

Despite difficult times, “I foresee an increase in the sale of branded goods in Japan,” points out Hidehiko Sekizawa, an analyst at Hakuhodo Research Institute, a private company monitoring Japanese trends.

The lure of brand goods, according to social experts, is strong among many women in Japan because carrying deluxe accessories makes them feel rich and pampered, providing a momentary refuge from their daily, stress-filled lives.

Indeed, Nakai says she came intending to fulfill a long-held dream to own the Hermes Kelly bag, named after the late film star and late Monaco princess Grace Kelly. The chic, deep-red bag costs more than 500,000 yen or 4,800 dollars.

“But the allotted tickets for the bag was gone by the time I arrived,” she says, disappointed. However, the news did not dampen Nakai’s shopping plans. “Instead, I will buy anything that appeals to me when I get in,” she explains.

Mari, who only wanted to identified by her first name, left Hermes this afternoon carrying the items she bought in the luxury brand’s bright orange paper bag.

“I spent a total of 130,000 yen (1,248 dollars) for a Hermes cloth bag and a T-shirt,” she says, grinning widely. Mari said she left her baby with her in-laws and kept her shopping expedition a secret, because she could be scolded for enjoying herself.

Another woman who had come with her friend, said goods at the Japanese store was more expensive than in Paris but she doesn’t mind she paid more for her handbag that cost 100,000 yen (960 dollars).

“I loved shopping in the deluxe interior of the store. It made me forget for a little while my boring life in Japan,” she explains.

Hermes is not the only fashion brand cashing in on Japan’s love for European luxury products. Gucci Group Japan Holdings, set up last month, announced it is planning 22 outlets in Japan.

Speaking at a news conference in early June, Domenico De Sole, Gucci’s chief executive, said the stores would house the group’s various brands including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Sergio Rossi.

In 2000, Gucci sales in Japan rose 33.1 percent from the year before to 335.7 million dollars. Japanese buyers account for 40 percent of luxury brands worldwide.

Sekizawa says Japanese shopping trends reflect the structural changes occurring in the country.

“People are buying expensive products and also snapping up cheap clothes in places that sell casual clothes made in China,” he explains. “This indicates there is a choice for people in the market.”

Analysts also say the success of brand goods indicates that Japanese consumers have cash despite the worst economic recession in the country in decades.

Points out Sekizawa: “People do not hesitate to fork out large amounts of cash when they want something. It goes to show the average Japanese has still to be hit by the recession.”