Originality
Our Own Merchandising Sections
Original Merchandise

Responding Quickly to Changing Customer
Needs and Seeking Originality and Proﬁtability

Season Message (4th floor, Daimaru Kobe store)

The role of independently operated
sections of which sales account for 15
to 20% of total department store sales is
diﬀerentiation and characterization
through the quick change of productselections and displays in response tomarket needs changing day by day andthe oﬀering of merchandise that is notincluded in the assortment of shops.
The independently operated sections
are operated at the department store srisk on the assumption that a department
store buys all goods and is solely
responsible for selling them. Since weplan and implement the whole SCM(supply chain management) process,these sections feature: ① diﬀerentiability;② easy response to changes; ③ highmargin and proﬁtability; and ④ easy job
standardization and central operation.
Armed with our own merchandising andsales service prowess, we aim to create
sales areas that overwhelmingly standout from competing department storesand other channels including stationbuildings and shopping centers.

Our own merchandising sections

Private brand (PB)

Our own merchandising sections mainly oﬀer item
assortments including women s wear, women saccessories (hats, scarves, shoes and others) and men saccessories (shirts, ties, underwear and others). Duringﬁscal 2010, we introduced original high tension pants(stretch pants) at a great value in non-partitioned open
space oﬀering independently selected women s wear tosuit the trend toward more casual fashion and they
became a hit selling 9,300 units at all Daimaru andMatsuzakaya stores in a year. As for women saccessories, we created a new market by oﬀering a totalof about 250 plans of new items (eco-friendlyaccessories, makeup accessories, craft accessories andothers), which lead to the excitement of shopping andsurprise, for a limited period of one week or two. As aresult, we could acquire new customers and add to sales.

Among the independently operated sections, we areinvolved in the whole SCM process of private brands(PB) from the stage of product planning. Based on trust
in department stores, we oﬀer original products wellbalanced between quality and price.
After management integration, Daimaru Matsuzakaya
Department Stores introduced Daimaru s PBs of men swear Trojan and women s wear Sofuol toMatsuzakaya stores to expand the PB oﬀering of JFRGroup. We will review logistics, information systems,
sales promotion, sales ﬂoor environment, sales activities
and inventory control as well as product development ina comprehensive manner and accelerate our eﬀorts toestablish highly accurate supply chain.

Started Season Message as our own merchandising
section for around 40-year-old women
We renewed the concept of Season Message, which
had oﬀered independently selected items of women s
wear in non-partitioned open space, and started
newborn Season Message as our own merchandising
section for around 40-year-old women who are the main
customers of department stores in February 2011. By
meeting the needs of around 40-year-old women to beelegantly dressed in casual attire or enjoy stylingwithout worrying about their body shape, we aim tocreate sales sections that make them feel they are
their ideal shopping places. Their item strategy is tooﬀer pants, which are a must for casual occasions, as acore. They are priced 20 to 30% lower than generalapparel brands to satisfy price-sensitive customers.

Collaboration
Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores and World Co.,
Ltd., an apparel company achieving good results in SPA(specialty store retailer of private label apparel) brandstrategy, established a new business model and collaborate
to oﬀer a women s wear brand Esche. Forming a virtual
joint business unit as business partners, instead of traditional
supplier-buyer relationships, the two companies shareinformation and clarify the distribution of proﬁts to collaborateusing their respective core competence, that is, Daimaru
Matsuzakaya Department Stores ability to operate stores
and World s ability to develop and supply merchandise,
instead of the conventional way of developing PB apparelproducts through OEM (original equipment manufacture). In
the business process from product planning to selling out, thetwo companies are working together to ensure PDCA
(plan-do-check-act) cycle and respond quickly and accurately
to customer needs and wants.

TROJAN
Daimaru created this brand as pioneering men s ready-made garments inJapan in 1959. It has enjoyed enormous popularity as department store s
men s wear PB for more than 50 years. Trojan means a warrior of Troy.
As battle dress adapting to the times, the brand oﬀers safe and reliable
quality at prices acceptable to customers by putting wear comfort ﬁrst andcombining high quality materials and ﬁne tailoring with contemporariness.

SOFUOL
SOFUOL stands for SophisticatedFull-length Oﬃce Lady. Targeting
working women in their 30s and above,
the brand oﬀers feminine and sophisticatedstyling to cater to their business,
commuting and daily fashion needs.
Available at:
Shinsaibashi, Umeda, Tokyo, Kyoto, Kobe,
Sapporo, Suma, Nagoya and Ueno stores andHakata Daimaru, Shimonoseki Daimaru and Kochi
Daimaru