Ikebukuro PARCO's biggest renewal since opening lands Japan's first official Star Wars store
PARCO is completing a 2,600-tsubo renovation at its Ikebukuro store this autumn — the largest since the building opened — doubling Onitsuka Tiger's floor space and bringing in Japan's first official Star Wars store, a sign of how far the developer has pushed pop-culture retail into its core fashion mix.
PARCO Co., Ltd. is completing a 2,600-tsubo (roughly 8,600 sq m) renovation of its Ikebukuro store this autumn, which the developer calls the largest renewal since the building opened, according to a company release. The main fashion floor — the second-floor "CONTEMPORARY TOKYO" section, around 440 tsubo — is bringing in 11 new fashion tenants.
Two pop-culture specialty stores anchor the renewal. A Star Wars Store operated by Benelic opens on the sixth floor on 1 October, which the release describes as Japan's first official Star Wars shop. An Ultraman Store on the second basement level reopens on 9 October. Onitsuka Tiger, meanwhile, is doubling its sales floor and reopening on 18 September.
Other openings include a combined Y's and Y's for men store and a new and wander location, both due 16 October, and a second store for destination Tokyo — its first beyond the Shinjuku flagship — on the same date. The renewal also brings in kolor, Hysteric Glamour, Studious, Conz, Topologie, Atrium, Pop Mart, Key Timez and Collectors, PARCO said, with finale events tied to its "New Friends" campaign, launched in March, running from 16 October.
A pop-culture floor plan
PARCO has increasingly treated fandom as a retail category rather than a promotional add-on since the pandemic — anime, gaming and now film franchises given the kind of permanent floor space fashion brands used to have to themselves. Landing the country's first official Star Wars store, alongside an Ultraman shop and Pop Mart, does more for footfall at a suburban flagship like Ikebukuro than another apparel tenant would; doubling Onitsuka Tiger's floor, by contrast, is a bet that a domestic sportswear label people already buy still needs more room to sell it in. Whether the mix reads as a coherent "CONTEMPORARY TOKYO" floor or a fashion store with character shops bolted on is the thing to watch once the doors are actually open.