Hip H(ip)&M

One of the latest international clothes chain that opened a branch in Japan is H&M. Not surprising that this is a highly interesting consumer market for international fashion companies. Japan is THE super fashion-conscious nation and you certainly do not want to miss out on Japanese consumers. Numerous international chains have branches here, from the very high end to casual clothes like GAP, Banana Republic or Zara.
The stories about Japanese women spending the night in front of the new Louis Vuitton flagship store have made it to world news already. This brand is iconic here, the name has made it to literary fame even like hip young author Hitomi Kanehara`s heroine Lui ("Snakes and Earrings", Hitomi Kanehara, 2005) who is named after Louis Vuitton. Questionable as it is to spend the night in front of a store that sells products that you can, well, get for a fraction of the price and in millions of copies from China... But queing in front of H&M?!
H&M opened it`s first shop in Japan last October in the high end shopping area of Ginza in Tokyo. There were endless queues in front of the store in October obviously. I went there in late November, having heard about the phenomenon and still had to queue to get inside. 15 minutes, but it seemed absurd to do that to have a look at mass ware from China and India. The second shop was opened this spring in trendy Harajuku.
Both shops look decidedly more upscale than those in Europe. Despite selling the same cheap clothes, the interior design of the stores and the fact that clothes are not so much crammed into the shelves makes it look much more boutique. H&M certainly did not save on interior and exterior design and on rental cost, considering the expensive locations those shops are at.
An article from the Japan Marketing site that was issued before the opening of the first shop predicted H&M would fail here: http://www.japanmarketingnews.com/2006/12/in_japan_the_bi.html Japan is an attractive, but difficult market as consumers are quality concious and hyper fashion sensitive. The article also points out that the expensive locations will make it difficult for a narrow margin brand as H&M to make profits. It remains to be seen. I have so far neither heard that they are behind expectations nor that they plan to open new stores, so remains to be observec. Regarding the quality issue I would say that Zara should face the tougher situation. From personal experience I have to say that their clothes are lower quality generally than H&Ms and by far more pricey, so should be less attractive to the Japanese customer even. And they do have numerous branches here, so seem to be faring well with the customers. They have to starting advantages: they are new and foreign, that sells.