Snow Peak opens a directly run store at Kobe Sanda Premium Outlets on November 20

Snow Peak, Inc. (株式会社スノーピーク), the outdoor and lifestyle maker based in Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture, said it will open a directly operated store at Kobe Sanda Premium Outlets in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on Friday, November 20, according to a November 4 announcement.

The roughly 80-tsubo (about 265-square-metre) store sits inside the outlet mall, open 10:00 to 20:00, and carries tents, tarps and furniture from Snow Peak's core camping line alongside apparel built around its "HOME⇄CAMP" concept and outlet merchandise, the company said.

Customers spending ¥30,000 or more (tax included) during the opening period receive a limited-run sierra cup engraved with the store's name and opening date, while supplies last. Snow Peak said the new store is about 30 minutes by car from Shin-Kobe Station and from Arima Onsen, and is also close to one of its own directly run campgrounds, the Snow Peak Minoh Shizenkan & Camp Field (スノーピーク 箕面自然館・キャンプフィールド) in Minoh, Osaka Prefecture.

The opening adds a homegrown outdoor brand to a mall Snow Peak's own release describes as holding about 210 stores and ranking among the largest outlet centres in western Japan, and it is a distribution decision as much as a product one: Snow Peak is choosing to run the counter itself rather than let a multi-brand outlet retailer carry its goods at a discount. For a brand that has built much of its Japan growth on directly run stores and its own campgrounds, adding a directly operated outlet unit keeps both the margin and the customer relationship in house.