Yodobashi vs. Seibu” issue… “Tokyu” and “Bic Camera” join forces to attract more customers “2 to 3 times as many as in the same period last year

Background of First Strike in 61 Years at Major Department Stores

Department stores have long been associated with face-to-face sales of luxury goods such as brand-name clothing. Recently, as consumer needs diversify, the sales floors have changed, and it is not unusual to find electronics retailers and fast-fashion stores such as Uniqlo in the department stores.

This summer, the first strike by a major department store in 61 years made headlines in the department store industry. Sogo & Seibu’s labor union went on strike on August 31 this year, and the Seibu Ikebukuro main store was closed for the entire day. The union’s decision to go on strike was motivated by concerns about continued employment.

On September 1, the day after the strike, parent company Seven & i Holdings transferred its shares in Sogo & Seibu to U.S. investment firm Fortress Investment Group. Under the new parent company, the Seibu Ikebukuro main store has been the subject of a series of reports that Yodobashi Holdings, an electronics retailer, may become the core tenant.

The department store industry has been in the doldrums for a long time. After peaking at 9.7 trillion yen in 1991, the industry’s total sales have been hovering around 5 trillion yen in recent years, including a near halving in 2008, the year of the COVID-19 crisis. The decline in clothing, the mainstay of department stores, has been particularly significant.

Although there are some floors that are busy, such as the department store’s basement food area and the Hokkaido product exhibition, the department stores’ response to the diversification of consumer needs has been sidetracked, except for a few of these floors. Customers for clothing have been flowing to fast fashion stores that offer the latest fashions at low prices and to online retailers, while customers for home electronics have been lost to mass merchandisers and furniture to Nitori and other retailers.

In order to survive, the department store industry has recently begun to take bold measures, which are known as “business restructuring. Many department stores are now focusing on the real estate leasing business, where they rent out their sales floors, rather than selling goods as they have done in the past. Attracting large specialty stores such as electronics retailers is one example.