Relationship between locations of department stores and store characteristics in the Tokyo Metropolitan area

Abstract

The amount of floor space for various types of goods, the customer age-group catered to, and associated service establishments differ greatly in department stores of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. This study classifies 105 department stores into 9 types using factor and cluster analyses based on those differences. As the result, the following characteristics were identified: 1) Stores mainly catering to younger customers are located in suburban centers such as Yokohama, Chiba, and Omiya, as well as in subcenters of the metropolitan area such as Ikebukuro, Shibuya, and Shinjuku. On the other hand, stores catering mainly for the middle-aged or old people are located around the main train stations in each ward of Tokyo. The most prestigious department stores are located in the traditional metropolitan centers such as Nihonbashi and Ginza. In general, the main customer age-group and goods price range change with the distance from the traditional metropolitan centers. 2) The amount of floor space devoted to daily necessities is much less than that devoted to luxury goods in department stores of urban area, although the converse is true in suburban areas. 3) Almost all department stores with associated service establishments such as cinema complexes are located in the metropolitan subcenters or suburban areas. The location of department stores in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area therefore operates accoding to a hierarchical structure.