Goldwin expands its North Face store at Amu Plaza Oita by 1.8x and adds Helly Hansen
Goldwin is nearly doubling the floor of its North Face store at Amu Plaza Oita and folding Helly Hansen in alongside it, putting its own retail footprint — not a landlord's leasing call — behind a single flagship at Kyushu's busiest rail hub rather than a second address in the city.
Goldwin Inc. said it will open a combined The North Face and Helly Hansen store at Amu Plaza Oita on October 10, roughly 1.8 times the size of the store it replaces, according to a release dated September 30.
The new store, on the second floor of Amu Plaza Oita next to Oita Station, grows to about 150 tsubo (roughly 495 square metres) from the approximately 83 tsubo of THE NORTH FACE+ Tokiwa Wasada, the store it replaces, which closed on September 27, Goldwin said. Alongside the larger footprint, the company said it is adding Helly Hansen marine wear to the location for the first time and building a dedicated shoe corner that consolidates North Face footwear spanning trekking, trail running, running and lifestyle use. The store will run 10:00 to 20:00.
Goldwin holds the Japan licence for The North Face's entire domestic business as well as running Helly Hansen outright, so a store that folds both brands into one floor is Goldwin choosing to spend its own retail footprint, not a landlord's leasing decision. Nearly doubling the floor at a station mall attached directly to Oita's main rail hub, rather than opening a second standalone location in the city, also says Goldwin still rates a single well-placed flagship over spreading across more addresses in a regional market the size of Kyushu's.