Japan’s Mitsukoshi sheds high-end frills with new Manila mall

Department store applies lessons learned from setbacks in Southeast Asia

Federal Land Chair Alfred Ty, right, stands beside the Mitsukoshi Lion statue with other VIPs during a Nov. 17 unveiling event at the newly-built Mitsukoshi BGC mall in Manila.
(Photo by Yuichi Shiga)
YUICHI SHIGA and DAIKI HIRAOKA, Nikkei staff writers

MANILA/TOKYO — Mitsukoshi, Japan’s high-end department store chain, has rebranded itself in the Philippines as a mass-market shopping mall in an attempt to find a business model that works in Southeast Asia.

Parent company Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings held a ceremony Thursday, unveiling an iconic Mitsukoshi Lion statue in front of Mitsukoshi BGC, a new flagship shopping center in Manila. The location, the first for the company in the Philippines, opened Friday.

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