A Touch of Tokyo

Even in Los Angeles--the city of gala premieres for everything from Hollywood spectaculars to hamburger stands--the "grand opening'' last week of the U.S.'s first big Japanese-owned department store created quite a splash. Within 15 minutes after Seibu of Los Angeles unlocked its door, 5,000 shoppers were inside, women were fainting, policemen had to bar all entrances to slow down the rush and traffic was backed up for four blocks along Wilshire Boulevard. By day's end Seibu's clerks had been buffeted by 40,000 Angelenos, who bought $25,000 worth of merchandise ranging from obi cloth theater coats to men's silk suits tailored in Japan to Ivy League specifications.

Owned by Japan's billion dollar Seibu Industries, whose holdings include Tokyo's fastest growing department store, a railroad and 36 hotels, Seibu of Los Angeles is the latest pet project of Seibu Chairman Yasujiro Tsutsumi, 74. During a 1959 visit to the U.S., Tsutsumi was shocked at the low quality of the Japanese products that he saw in well-to-do American homes. Convinced that there was a large unexploited market for Japan's wide range of quality merchandise, he decided that the way to tap it was not through specialty stores (such as Manhattan's Takashimaya) but with a store that could compete on even terms with U.S. department stores catering to upper middle-class buyers.

To pull off this daring gamble--which so far has cost Seibu $8,000,000--Tsutsumi is relying on a retailing formula that blends East and West. Housed in a block-long, four-story building with just touches of Japanese decor--a cluster of lanterns, an occasional screen and a few Nisei girls in geisha costume--Seibu of Los Angeles is essentially an American store with all the usual U.S. retailing gimmicks, including a two-deck parking garage and a roof-garden restaurant with bar. Its merchandise is predominantly Western-styled, and only 60% of it is made in Japan. To provide this much Japanese merchandise, Seibu's buyers had to organize a Japanese children's clothing industry almost from scratch (Japanese children wear school uniforms) and to persuade furniture makers to raise Japan's small, low-slung dining tables to coffee-table height.

If his Los Angeles store goes on from novelty to sustained success, Tsutsumi plans to expand into other U.S. cities. He emphasizes that his operations will not hurt U.S. industries because he intends to use his U.S. proceeds to buy American goods for his Tokyo store. In a cable to his U.S. staff last week he spelled out his objective: DO YOUR VERY BEST TO SELL TRULY FINE JAPANESE GOODS TO AMERICAN CUSTOMERS AND BUY WITH PROFITS AMERICAN GOODS NECESSARY FOR JAPAN AND THEREBY COOPERATE WITH AMERICAN DOLLAR DEFENSE MEASURES. TO INCREASE SALES FIGURES OF NEW STORE IS NOT FINAL PURPOSE.

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