Friday, November 16th, was a momentous occasion for Japanese retailer Muji as it opened its first retail location here in New York City’s SoHo district. The opening also marked the retailer, which already gained a loyal following for its “all value/quality, no frills” approach in its products, foray into the U.S. market for the first time. At about 3,200 square feet of retail space, the SoHo store will offer over 2,000 items of Muji products, including about 570 stationeries, 270 health & beauty products, 30 simple appliances, 330 apparels, and much more.
En Avant had the opportunity to chat briefly with Mr. Masanobu Furuta, the Senior Managing Director of Mujirushi Ryohin, about the retailer, its concept, and its future plans…
Muji SoHo
455 Broadway | Map
New York, NY 10013
» Muji
How long it took Muji to open this first store, from planning, design, renovating, and etc…?
We actually prepared in about 1 1/2 year. We first opened our U.S. branch office about 11/2 years, so we just started.
Any reasons behind opening the first U.S. store in New York City?
We believe that New York, Tokyo, London are some of the core cities of world (which share in similarities and interests). So it was important for Muji to be here.
MUJI大約花費了多久的時間來籌備紐約店的設立？
我們準備了約1年半的時間來設立MUJI紐約店。
是什麼原因讓MUJI決定進軍紐約?
我們認為紐約、日本、倫敦是世界的中心，所以我們覺得MUJI紐約店對我們而言是相當重要的。
With the ever increasing cost in labor and raw materials, how does Muji keep the price of its products at a reasonable price?
We try think about the actural material. For example, these wooden floors (as part of store’s decor), there are some knots Of course there are wooden flooring without them. But it will be more expensive and also a waste of material.
Does it mean cost conscious can also be environmentally conscious as well?
Yes! Cost conscious equals environmentally conscious. From the production process, we think of each steps. For example, some of these Muji products. Usually, you will see them with colors (in other retailers). But we create them with their natural colors only. This will reduce the production cost and still looks great.
在原物料價格不斷上漲的情況下，MUJI如何維持合理的價格並且仍保有相同的品質呢?
在設計上我們試著用原物料來進行設計，例如，這些木地板(也同時是店內的裝飾)的應用，雖然有許多的木紋在上面，但是哪個木地板沒有呢？再者如果設計採用排列規則木地板的話，不僅使成本增加並且會浪費更多的木頭。
這樣是否意味著成本意識控制的越好，對於環境的自覺意識也會更好呢?
是的!成本意識是等同於環境意識的，我們在生產過程中都會思考每一個步驟所產生的成本與對環境的傷害。例如:MUJI產品中,你可以看到每一件商品顏色都是採用天然的顏色製造，這樣不僅可降低成本,也同時看起來很漂亮。
How does Muji go through its product design process?
We work together with both in-house and outside product design teams. We also have something called the “Muji Award”, where people can submit their product ideas to us. We already held the competition twice already and would most likely hold another one in the near future.
MUJI的設計生產過程是如何?
我們同時有MUJI的設計團隊和約聘的設計師一起設計所有的產品。我們同時也透過”MUJI Award”設計比賽方式，讓消費者可以投遞他們的想法與創意給我們，MUJI Award已經舉辦了兩年，我們並且會在近期內再舉辦一個。
Other than this store and the Time Squares flagship store opening next Spring, is Muji expanding more, in New York City or other parts of the U.S.?
All depend on the performances of these 2 store. If the results are good, we will develop more stores in New York or other parts of the country.
Muji is now in the U.S., also in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, London…
China, with one in Shanghai and a Beijing store next year, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Germany, Thailand…we already have stores in 14 countries outside of Japan. U.S. will be the 15th.
How about Latin America?
(Laughs) After we establish North America first. But there are already requests, from places like Mexico City, for example.
Will you open an online store to reach out to customers not near New York City?
We would like to consider opening an online and mail order service in the near future. We have to consider the storage and logistic issue. But first, we want to build a concrete base first.
Our sincere thanks to Mr. Furuta, Ms. Tanaka, and the entire Muji SoHo team
MUJI的紐約時代廣場旗艦店也將在明年春天開幕，請問MUJI會希望在紐約或是美國其他地方開更多的分店嗎?
那就要看目前這兩家的表現了，如果這兩家店都表現的很好，那我們就會在紐約或是其他地方開更多的MUJI分店。
MUJI從日本出發，現在已經在美國、韓國、台灣、香港、倫敦……等都有分店。
明年將會在中國的上海跟北京開幕，全球目前已經有MUJI的國家還有挪威、瑞典、西班牙、義大利、德國和泰國等共14個國家，美國將是第15個擁有MUJI的國家。
那拉丁美洲呢?
(笑)等我們先把北美洲的市場穩定後，會考慮的，因為目前那邊也已經有需求產生，像是墨西哥等。
MUJI有計畫提供線上的購物網站嗎?
我們正考慮在未來將提供線上的購物及郵購服務部份，但必須考慮到倉儲的問題。不過目前最要緊的還是實體通路部份。
EN AVANT誠摯感謝Mr. Furuta 以及 Ms. Tanaka 接受簡短的訪談，以及MUJI SoHo店的全體員工協助。
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