The number one store in terms of sales floor space and number of brands! If you want to "binge-check" luxury watches, Nagoya is the place to be!

Nagoya's watch store scene is becoming more and more impressive. With the remodeling and opening of the Matsuzakaya Nagoya store's watch department, along with the JR Nagoya Takashimaya Watch Maison, the city now has two watch departments that are among the best in Japan in terms of both floor space and number of brands. This article examines how impressive their scale is compared to other department stores, and also explores the appeal of department stores and specialty stores.

Nagoya has two of the largest watch departments in Japan!

　GENTA the Watch, a watch salon located on the fifth floor of the north wing of Matsuzakaya Nagoya in Sakae, Nagoya's downtown area, reopened on July 2, 2022, after a 14-year renovation. According to the store, the entire sales floor is approximately 1400 m², with watches alone covering approximately 1200 m², making it one of Japan's largest watch departments. Due to the number of brands opening up until October and the method of counting, the number of brands is not listed, but according to the affiliated website Gressive, there are over 75 brands.

　Another "largest watch department in Japan" in Nagoya is JR Nagoya Takashimaya Watch Maison, which opened about a year ago on July 21, 2021, on the first and second floors of the Dai Nagoya Building, located right next to JR Nagoya Station. The combined sales floor area of ​​these two floors is approximately 1200 m2, and it carries about 90 brands.

　Both stores are definitely worthy of the description "one of the largest in Japan." They are incredibly spacious and have an incredible number of brands. So, to see just how impressive they are, let's compare them with other stores across Japan.

　Takashimaya Watch Maison Tokyo Nihonbashi, which opened in Nihonbashi, Tokyo in 2015 and caused a big stir, has a sales floor area of ​​approximately 800 m2. The following year, in November 2016, Takashimaya Watch Maison Osaka opened on the 5th floor of the Takashimaya Osaka store in Namba, Osaka, with a sales floor area of ​​approximately 1100 m2. The most recent watch department renovation in Osaka was the International Boutiques Watch Gallery on the 6th floor of the Hankyu Umeda Main Store, which reopened in February 2020 and has a sales floor area of ​​approximately 700 m2.

　Needless to say, the Tokyo department stores that are putting effort into expanding their watch departments are the Isetan Shinjuku store and the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store, both of which are part of the Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings group. In 2019, they expanded their sales floor area by approximately 2 and 2.5 times, respectively. The actual size figures have not been made public, so it is not possible to make a comparison. However, from my own experience, I cannot imagine that these two stores surpass the two Nagoya stores.

　If the figures announced are accurate, both GENTA the Watch on the 5th floor of the Matsuzakaya Nagoya North Building and JR Nagoya Takashimaya Watch Maison will surpass the previous No. 1, Takashimaya Watch Maison Osaka, to become Japan's largest retail space, or rather, the No. 1 in Japan. And the number of brands they carry is proportional to the size of their space.

　In other words, there are now two stores in Nagoya that boast the largest sales floor area and the largest number of brands in Japan. So, if you want to "take a quick look at watches from various brands" and "find the one that suits you," we recommend visiting these two stores in Nagoya.

　Both stores focus on creating spaces where you can experience the charm and worldview of the watch brand, and Matsuzakaya in particular is well-equipped with salon-like facilities and a repair corner. They also hold many brand fairs and watch-related events, and have a comprehensive dedicated website. This is another great point that watch enthusiasts should not miss.

　The Matsuzakaya Nagoya store is located in the Sakae district, a busy shopping district in the center of Nagoya city, and JR Nagoya Takashimaya is located right next to JR Nagoya Station, so the two stores are a little far apart. However, this provides a good opportunity to get to know the vastness and interesting aspects of the city of Nagoya.

　By the way, when it comes to Rolex, please note that both stores require advance reservations for anything other than repairs.

Aiming to be No. 1 in sales in Japan

　Matsuzakaya Nagoya has set a sales target of 15% higher than the previous fiscal year (2021), and has publicly stated that it aims to become the number one department store for watches in Japan. Achieving this goal is also a goal of this renovation and reopening.

　According to a public relations representative at rival JR Nagoya Takashimaya Watch Maison, sales for fiscal 2021 exceeded expectations, achieving approximately 1.5 times the sales figures for fiscal 2020. The unit price has also increased by approximately 15 yen compared to previous years, with models priced over 100 million yen selling well.

　Indeed, luxury watches are booming worldwide, likely replacing much of the travel demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Japan Watch & Clock Association, the domestic watch market for fiscal 2021 was approximately 7139 billion yen in actual sales, up 15% from the previous year. Imported watches, meanwhile, were up 17% to 5857 billion yen in actual sales.

　Nagoya is an area with high sales of luxury goods, with department stores accounting for approximately 50% of their sales, compared to approximately 30% in other regions. It is entirely possible that either of these two stores could achieve the top spot in watch sales.

What challenges remain for department store watch departments?

　Watch sales floors in department stores across the country are expanding one after another and achieving success. Around 20 years ago, around the year 2000, the watch industry was saying, "The era of watch specialty stores is upon us." It was said that "department stores do not have the personnel with the specialized knowledge that watch specialty stores have, and besides, the structure of the sales floor makes it impossible to provide salon-like customer service befitting luxury watches."

　However, department stores have overcome one of these challenges by incorporating luxury watch brand boutiques into their stores, luxuryizing sales areas, and expanding them into salon-like spaces. They also far surpass specialty watch stores in the number of brands they carry. They also have a "weapon" that specialty watch stores cannot offer: point rewards with department store cards. However, unfortunately, it is not possible to say with certainty that "if you want to buy a luxury watch, you should go to a department store."

　Watch specialty stores that have been selling watches for generations have strengths that department stores cannot replicate: "staff with specialized watch-related knowledge" and "close family relationships that transcend generations."

　In Nagoya, there is a watch specialty store called "Watches and Jewelry Hirano," which has been dealing in luxury watches for three generations since 1915, and has frequented the watchmaking sites of Swiss watch brands, forming deep ties with the local people.

　If you are going to Nagoya for watches, I personally recommend visiting one of these watch specialty stores.