タイトルから想像できるとおり著者は地理学者だ。けれども、地理や都市計画の知識はある程度あり流通業については素人である私が読むと、この本は地理の本にありがちな環境決定論に陥ることなく、スーパー、コンビニ、チェーン店等各業態の特徴や個別企業の、物流システムの発展について丁寧に解説しているところが優れているという感想を抱いた。
カバー裏に「ユニクロはなぜ郊外から都心へ出店場所や規模を変化させたのか」とある。そこでユニクロに関する記述を探してみた。
＜第２章＞
ユニクロ（ファーストリテイリング）は1984年に広島市都心部に1号店を出店、当初は都心店と郊外店の双方があったが、売れ行きの良い郊外店に立地の方向性を明確にした。90代にはＳＰＡ（自社開発、自社店舗販売）の体制を確立し、 大店法運用緩和をうけて大型店、中型店を全国展開していった。2000年代には、郊外小型店をスクラップし、三大都市圏都心や地方のＳＣに中型店、大型店を出店した。小泉都市再生により都心市場が拡大し、大型店の受け皿となる商業ビルも増えたためだ。さらに、駅ナカ小型店を出し、ネット通販に参入した。
2010年代に入ると東京銀座と大阪梅田にグローバル旗艦店を出店、超大型店も増やし、海外観光客も誘引した。国外店舗を急増させ、現在では国外店舗の方が多くなっている。
＜第４章＞
バブル崩壊とその後の長期不況は銀座の賃貸料を下げ、ユニクロなどファストファッション、ドンキなどディスカウント店、自治体アンテナショップなどのの出店を可能にし、銀座の商品構成を多様化させた。
Distribution and Consumption Analyzed by Geography Jun Tsuchiya 2022
As the title suggests, the author is a geographer. However, as a layman in the distribution industry with some knowledge of geography and urban planning, this book does not fall into the environmental determinism that is common in geography books, but carefully explains the characteristics of each type of business, such as supermarkets, convenience stores, and chain stores, and the development of individual companies and distribution systems. I thought it was excellent.
On the back cover of the book, there is a question as to why UNIQLO changed the location and scale of its stores from the suburbs to the city center. So, I looked for the description of UNIQLO in this book.
＜Chapter 2
UNIQLO (Fast Retailing) opened its first store in downtown Hiroshima in 1984. Initially, the company had both an urban center store and a suburban store, but it clearly directed the location to the suburban store, where sales were better.
In the 1990s, the company established a system of SPA (store development and sales by itself), and with the relaxation of the Large-Scale Store Law, it opened large and medium-sized stores nationwide. This was because Koizumi's urban redevelopment efforts expanded the market in urban centers and increased the number of commercial buildings that could accommodate large stores. In addition, the company opened small stores in train stations and entered the online shopping market.
In the 2010s, the company opened global flagship stores in Tokyo's Ginza district and Osaka's Umeda district, and increased the number of super-large stores to attract overseas tourists. The number of overseas stores has increased rapidly, and today the number of overseas stores is larger than that of Japan.
＜Chapter 4
The bursting of the bubble economy and the prolonged recession that followed lowered rents in Ginza and allowed fast fashion stores such as UNIQLO, discount stores such as Donki, and local government antenna stores to open in the area, thereby diversifying the product mix in Ginza.