The other store, a shop-in-shop of roughly 60 square metres, will open on 12 September 2012 in one of Japan’s biggest department stores, the famous Seibu in Ikebukuro. The department store is located in the immediate vicinity of Tokyo’s second-busiest railway station. Almost three million passengers pass through the station daily.

“We are very pleased that expansion is continuing in this market, which is of great importance to us. The long-term work started in 2006 to build a comprehensive store network and to boost our brand’s recognition factor has borne fruit and Marimekko has achieved a good position in Japan.

“Our sales have developed well for a long time, although economic conditions in the country have been difficult and several, even famous consumer brands have suffered from declining demand,” says Sales Director Päivi Lonka.

“One of the new stores is located on the street level of the Shin-Marunouchi building, which is considered a landmark of Marunouchi, a centre of the Tokyo financial world. Seibu in Ikebukuro is very attractive to us because of its prestige, its classy range, and its enormous customer flows.

“Our local partner Look Inc. is currently looking for further suitable store premises and will open new Marimekko stores in the Greater Tokyo Area and other parts of the country,” she continues.

After these openings, Tokyo will have seven and Japan a grand total of 23 Marimekko stores.

Marimekko