Mammut brings its new global store concept to Japan — in a Saitama mall, not Tokyo
Mammut is opening only the second store worldwide under its new global concept — not in Tokyo, but in a Saitama mall, with a locally carved Matterhorn sculpture at the door.
Mammut Sports Group Japan will open the second store anywhere to use the Swiss outdoor brand's new global store concept on September 11, at Cocoon City in Saitama City's Omiya ward, the company said in a press release. It is Mammut's first shop in Saitama Prefecture.
The second-floor unit inside the mall's Cocoon 2 building will carry the brand's climbing and mountaineering ranges, including its technical Eiger Extreme line, alongside footwear, apparel, business wear and children's lines, according to the release. A pre-opening event with a talk show is set for September 9, two days ahead of the public opening.
The store's interior draws on Swiss glaciers, alpine rock and forest, with a backdrop depicting the Eiger range, Mammut said. Its most distinctive touch is local: a wood sculpture of the Matterhorn, carved from Japanese elm sourced in Saitama by craftspeople from the prefecture, stands at the entrance — a piece the company frames as a bridge between the brand's Swiss origins and its host prefecture.
That a European outdoor brand chose a suburban Saitama shopping centre, rather than a Tokyo flagship, to debut its new concept for only the second time worldwide says something about where it sees the growth in Japan's outdoor market: not just in the capital's showcase stores, but in the regional malls where hiking and climbing gear increasingly sells alongside everyday apparel.