High-end Japanese retailer Takashimaya in U-turn, to keep Shanghai store open
- Osaka-based company says support from landlord, municipal government behind eleventh-hour change of heart
- Unclear if board or shareholders have decided on how to steer a turnaround for the business
High-end Japanese department store Takashimaya Company in a U-turn on Friday said it would continue to operate its 60,000-square metre store near Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. It had announced in late June it would close the store – its sole outlet in mainland China – on Sunday, August 25.
“We previously announced that we would close Shanghai Takashimaya on Sunday, August 25. However, we have decided to continue operating the store on August 26 and thereafter,” the company said in a statement on its website.
The eleventh-hour U-turn was attributed to support extended by the seven-storey building’s landlord, as well as “assistance from the Shanghai municipal government”. The short statement did not provide any further details.
“Shanghai Takashimaya wants to apologise for causing any concerns among our customers since June 25 [the date of the initial announcement],” it added.
The announcement in June, reported by the South China Morning Post, would have ended the Osaka-based retailer’s seven-year stay in China. Takashimaya had cited fierce competition and rapid changes in China’s consumption patterns as reasons for winding up in that statement.
