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The Circular Economy the Group Aims to Create

With various global environmental problems, including resource shortage, global warming, and waste disposal worsening due to linear economy based on mass production and mass consumption and disposal, circular economy is becoming increasingly important. The Group identified the “promotion of circular economy” as materiality in fiscal 2021 to simultaneously reduce environmental risks and capture new business opportunities

Promotion of Circular Economy in the Group’s Strong Areas

The Group has implemented 3Rs that reduce environmental risks, such as recycling of waste, and has gained support from stakeholders. Going forward, we will strengthen initiatives in our strong areas (store operation, handling of clothing, cosmetics, and food, etc.) based on conventional 3Rs and evolve and expand them to new 3Rs that will not only reduce environmental risks but also lead us to capturing business opportunities.

The Group will work with suppliers and customers to create a new circular business model based on the concepts of "sharing" and "upcycling" in order to realize a circular economy. Through these efforts, we will create new environmental value and gain a competitive advantage in a circular economy.

Reduction of Environmental Load through Resources Recycling

ECOFF—Working together with customers

Weight of disused articles collected through ECOFF

Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store is engaged in “Think GREEN” activities to propose sustainable products and lifestyles. Launched in FY2016, “ECOFF” is a sustainable initiative to collect unwanted clothing, shoes, bags, and other items from customers at department stores and recycle and reuse them into new materials and products.
The initiative has continued to grow every year thanks to the increasing environmental awareness of customers and their active participation. A record 367 tons was collected in FY2022 (cumulative total of 1,468 tons collected since FY2016), and a record number of people participated. We further expanded our efforts, such as the campaign in spring 2023, which was jointly held by Daimaru Fukuoka Tenjin and Fukuoka PARCO.
As part of our ECOFF donation initiative, we donated ¥2 million in FY2022 to four organizations working to solve environmental issues.

ECOFF collection box
Cosme de ECOFF

A fashion subscription business friendly to the environment

AnotherADdress, a fashion subscription business started in March 2021, aims to shift to a business model with high sustainability for society and the environment by emphasizing the intrinsic value of fashion and sustainable initiatives based on the belief that clothes are not disposable. Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores is the main operator of the service, delivering clothes to customers in partnership with various businesses including logistics, delivery, cleaning, and recycling.

Strengthening of Sustainable Initiatives

As of the end of February 2022, we had more than 6,700 registered customers, far exceeding our initial projection of 1,000 members. The total number of rentals has reached 20,000, and we have received a great deal of support from our customers. In addition, on the first anniversary of its opening, we have more than doubled the number of brands we handle, and have introduced and improved new services requested by our customers, such as a "secure guarantee service," "introduction of a size comparison tool," and "change of the return system.”
We are also collaborating with Tokyo University of the Arts and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation to realize our business concept "FASHION NEW LIFE." We take on new sustainable challenges, such as a program that allows the participants to support tree-planting activities of “Geidai Hedge,” an environmental improvement program implemented by Tokyo University of the Arts, while enjoying fashion with AnotherADdress, under the theme of "Wear the forest, nurture the forest,” and "efforts to extend the life of clothes" with Wacoal.
In March 2023, we added men's fashion items to the lineup based on requests from many of our customers. By responding to the wide-ranging needs of not only male customers, but also those who enjoy genderless fashion, we will offer the joys of fashion “more freely” to “more people” in the future. In conjunction with business expansion, we have also introduced reusable garment bags, Japan's first recyclingbased delivery system. This will eliminate the use of corrugated cardboard for customer deliveries and reduce the use of plastic by 30% (compared to our company). AnotherADdress will continue to pursue an environmentally friendly business model.

Voice
TABATA Ryuya, AnotherADdress, DX Promotion Division, Management Strategy Headquarters, Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores

After launching this business, we have received comments from customers such as "I received compliments from my friends on the clothes I borrowed from AnotherADdress.” and “I have come to like to dress up.” What we want to share with our customers is “FASHION NEW LIFE,” or the joy of being fashionable.
At AnotherADdress, we also inform how to wash and handle clothes. We are trying to help our customers enjoy sustainable lifestyles naturally by providing information on what to do to wear not only rented clothes but also customers’ own clothes longer.
In the early days of our business, we had a hard time gaining the understanding of brands, but now we communicate to them that we are reforming our distribution process and working on a circular model. We have gained more and more support and understanding for the fact that we are working responsibly to ensure that our customers can enjoy the clothes we started to handle for as long as possible.
AnotherADdress has just begun. We hope that as many people as possible will try it out for themselves to encounter clothes they have never worn before and to discover the joy of dressing up.

Upcycling for decorations

Daimaru Matsuzakaya recognizes the challenge of disposing of event decorations that are replaced seasonally.
For the 2 0 2 2 Christmas season, the Nep Art Christmas Tree displayed at the Matsuzakaya Nagoya store was created by further upcycling the Tachineputa festival floats from Goshogawara, Aomori Prefecture. Those floats are made from paper recycled from waste cotton. After the display was over, the paper was carefully peeled off and used as labels for ciders brewed with out-of-spec apples produced in Aomori.

Sustainable commercial facilities

The 4th floor of Shibuya PARCO underwent a major renovation in November 2 0 2 2. Vintage stores and interior/art supply stores have newly opened, expressing “sustainability” with three themes: “reuse/inherit,” “reproduce/remake,” and “handcrafts/importance of making by hand.”
The renovations have made the commercial facility more sustainable by reducing waste associated with interior renovations when replacing tenants, and by incorporating a system that allows stores to open at minimum cost while minimizing investment in interior design as much as possible. This has made it easier for young start-up brands and creators to open new stores.

Project to breathe life into scrap wood

J. Front Design & Construction, which designs and builds hotel and office interiors, generates scraps of wood and unusable film in the process of creating interior construction materials. To make use of these materials, the company teamed up with Osaka University of Arts in the “Bringing Scrap Wood to Life” Project.
The students, with their rich imagination and flexible design skills, created unique works of art while dealing with irregularly shaped scraps of wood. The winning entries were exhibited at Daimaru Shinsaibashi.
This project was a perfect fusion of our Group's commitment to sustainability and the students' passion for craftsmanship.

Creating a society that co-exists with the environment