Kintetsu remodels Abeno Harukas' children's floor for the first time since the tower opened

Kintetsu Department Store said it will carry out a large-scale remodel of the children's-wear floor at its Abeno Harukas Main Store in Osaka, according to a press release — the first such overhaul of the floor since Abeno Harukas fully opened, the company said. Familiar, the Kobe-founded children's-wear house, reopens on the eighth floor of the tower building on 2 October with expanded floor space, an in-store workshop area called Kuso Zukan ("Imagination Picture Book") and merchandise exclusive to the store; Miki House follows on 17 October, with Petit Bateau and Petit Main reopening in November.

The remodel is the first phase of a renovation Kintetsu has scheduled to run through fiscal 2028, covering about 30% of the entire building, the company said. Kintetsu framed the project around a repositioning it calls "hyakkaten" written with the character for "value" in place of the usual one for "goods" — a play on the Japanese word for department store — which it said is meant to broaden the store's customer base. The remodelled floor will also introduce a large mascot character, designed by textile artist Masaru Suzuki, decorated across the space.

A children's floor is not where a Japanese department store chases inbound spending; it's where it defends its most habitual, least glamorous customer — the local family that comes back every season for uniforms, gifts and growth spurts. Pairing an enlarged Familiar and Miki House, two of the country's most trusted children's-wear names, with a dedicated play-and-workshop area is a Presentation bet as much as a merchandise one, giving parents a reason to spend an afternoon on the floor rather than make a single purchase. It also puts a concrete number behind Kintetsu's broader ambitions — a stated 30% of Abeno Harukas due for renewal within two years — worth watching floor by floor as the rest of that plan surfaces.