Western Japan's biggest department store to battle for potential market (5)

"After the full opening, the Hankyu store will be reborn as a cultural spot, rather than a shopping complex, attracting people not only from western or central Japan but also from Asian countries, including China. We are creating a 'theatre-orientated store'; a building from where the latest information about human life is always emanating, and people therefore can come and spend the day here," she stressed.

With big new stores opening in Umeda, the question of whether they can attract more customers from a wider area may depend on how they differentiate themselves from the commercial area as a whole.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers have already made a fuss because fiercer competition is expected in Osaka next summer. That is when Japan's biggest department store, with a floor area of 100,000 square meters, will open inside the country's tallest skyscraper, a building still under construction in the city's traditional Minami district.

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