More stores shutter in Tokyo's high-end Ginza Six mall amid travel bans (updated)

J. FRONT RETAILING

20/01/2021 10:26

(Updates with tourism official comment)
    TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - More than a dozen stores closed in
Tokyo's high-end Ginza Six  mall this week as the coronavirus
pandemic kept big-spending foreign tourists and other luxury
shoppers away from an upscale shopping district famous for
brand-name boutiques.
    Until the pandemic closed Japan off to most foreign visitors
last year, the retail complex, which opened in 2017 with around
240 stores, was a symbol of Ginza's revival as a popular
destination for tourists, especially those from China descending
on stores by the busload. 
    Ginza Six said on Wednesday that around 15 stores, including
Italian fashion house Moschino, cosmetics brands Shiseido and
Shu Uemura, as well as Salon des Parfums selling Annick Goutal
and other fragrance brands, have shut in the past few days.
    While Japan has not seen COVID-19 outbreaks on the scale of
some other major economies such as the United States and
Britain, infections have been rising steadily and the government
declared a second state of emergency earlier this month.  
    The continued travel ban, particularly the absence of
Chinese tourists during next month's Lunar New Year holiday for
a second year running, is also expected to deal a blow to Tokyo
retailers, said Atsumi Gamou, head of Japan Tourism Agency.
    "Retailers which were mainly focused on duty-free and other
products popular with inbound tourists are struggling hard," he
told reporters on Wednesday. "It's extremely difficult, to have
an entry ban on tourists at a time when Chinese visitors would
ordinarily be coming for Lunar New Year holidays."
    
    END OF THE BOOM
    The number of Chinese visitors had risen more than six-fold
in the seven years to 2019. They also spent more than others,
accounting for 30% of tourists but 37% of tourist spending even
after a Chinese government crackdown on import and re-sale of
luxury goods dampened their frantic shopping sprees for Japanese
electronics and cosmetics dubbed "bakugai", or "explosive
buying", by Japan's media. 
    Ginza Six has catered heavily to foreign visitors, with a
large service centre offering tax refund processing and luggage
storage in addition to a dedicated bus bay. 
    Global travel bans have kept foreign visitor numbers at 1-2%
of year-ago levels since last April, according to data from JTB
Tourism & Consulting.
    Department stores in central Tokyo, heavily dependent on
tourists in the past several years, have been hit particularly
hard. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings'  3099.T  same-store sales fell
more than 30% in 2020, with sales for its Mitsukoshi Ginza store
down over 50%. 
    Investors in Ginza Six included Japanese department store
operator J.Front Retailing  3086.T , trading house Sumitomo Corp
 8053.T  and the real estate arm of U.S. private equity firm L
Catterton.

 (Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Additional reporting by Hideto
Sakai and Ami Miyazaki; Editing by Kim Coghill and Alex
Richardson)
 ((Ritsuko.Ando@reuters.com; +81 3 6441 1743;))