The store relocation that we announced the other day will be in February next year, but
To explain the circumstances of this case,
It all comes down to the fact that the world has completely changed due to the coronavirus.
In 2019, the year before the coronavirus outbreak,
As a future outlook, we were planning to expand overseas.
I would like to open a store in Italy in some way, which is the center of watch trends.
With this in mind, we negotiated with various parties.
At that time, I wasn't particularly in a hurry to open a store, so
Select shops operated by local Japanese corporations,
Friends of friends who have lived in the suburbs of Italy, etc.
I was formulating a plan by hitting every detail that came to mind.
However, this does not have a great track record either,
It was really nothing other than the "consideration stage", so
When time passed without any progress in the story,
As overseas mail order purchases have begun to increase,
We were planning to establish a base in Hong Kong, which has preferential tariff treatment.
In Hong Kong, there are connections nearby,
Hong Kong itself is a very vibrant modern city.
It was once a British colony and has strong ties to Europe.
The plan is to approach from there and finally get closer to the goal of Italy.
At that moment, the Hong Kong democracy demonstrations occurred.
Apparently this was a much worse tragedy than what we saw on the news.
We will be unable to contact the local area for a while,
Then, all the talks came to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The road will be completely blocked.
At that time, we were considering relocating our store within Fukuoka City.
I was looking for a new store while expanding overseas.
There are no vacancies in their ideal place,
Tenants who are close to me can't agree on the price.
In the end, I gave up on moving from my current store, Nienohama.
Although there are various problems,
For some reason, my niece likes Hama, so I was satisfied with that.
However, in early 2022, considering the impact of the coronavirus,
I don't have confidence that we will be able to overcome a similar pandemic if it happens overseas.
Looking at the response of each country and local government, Japan is the best.
With that in mind, I started thinking about what I could do domestically.
“I want to give something back to the people I knew and helped me when I lived in Tokyo.”
From there, we moved on to opening the Tsukiji office.
At first, I really wanted to give it a try, but
The response from customers was better than expected.
We received many comments saying, ``We would love to open a store in Tokyo.''
At the same time, we will use the Fukuoka store after this relocation.
I was consulted by Mr. Abe of "Hiroshima 92-NinetyTwo-" ,
I decided to choose a shape like this one.
I cannot provide details of the content of the consultation, but
I want to help the younger generation in any way they can with their challenges.
I want many people to have this opportunity,
I have had this feeling for a long time, so I decided to move to Tokyo completely.
Currently, due to the dizzying development of the Nishi Ward area of Fukuoka City,
We cannot catch up on our own,
As a person who is more lively and can make things even more exciting,
“I want to spread shoe polishing to many people.”
I thought that Abe-kun, who has such a strong will, would be the best choice.
From now on, it will be called Odaiba, Tokyo.
From a remote place where many people are not familiar with "vintage watches",
Including Fukuoka and his old home Hiroshima,
I think it would be great if we could plan something interesting with shops all over Japan.
However, this time, rather than withdrawing completely,
I think we will continue to be involved in various ways,
We hope that you will continue to enjoy our products.
The next blog will be about "Why Odaiba?"
