Sogo

Sogo
	Sogo Yokohama Department Store
Native name	Kabushiki gaisha そごう
Romanizedname	Kabushiki Gaisha Sogō
Company type	KK
Industry	Retail
Founded	1830 inOsaka,Japan
Founder	Ihei Sogo
Headquarters	Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Number of employees	2,845 (2006)
Website	sogo-seibu.jp/sogo/

Sogo Co., Ltd.(Kabushiki gaisha そごう,Kabushiki gaishaSogō)is adepartment storechain that operates an extensive network of branches in Japan. In 2009, it merged with The Seibu Department Stores, Ltd.(Kabushiki gaisha tây võ bách hóa cửa hàng)to becomeSogo & Seibu Co., Ltd.(Kabushiki gaisha そごう・ tây võ).It once owned stores in locations as diverse as Beijing in China,Causeway Bayin Hong Kong,Taipeiin Taiwan,JakartaandSurabayain Indonesia,Kuala Lumpurin Malaysia, Singapore,Bangkokin Thailand, London in United Kingdom, but most of these international branches are now closed or operated by independentfranchisees.

History

Sogo Hachioji Department Store,Hachiōji, Tokyo(now CELEO)

Sogo was founded in 1830 inOsakaby Ihei Sogō as a retailer of usedkimono.

In July 2000, the company faced financial troubles caused by the unstable real estate investment policy of the former chairman, Hiroo Mizushima, and the collapse of Japanese real estate prices since the mid-1980s. The group collapsed under a debt mountain of US$17 billion, owed principally toIndustrial Bank of Japan.^[1]Sogo applied to Osaka District Court under the Civil Rehabilitation Law on July 12, 2000. It has had to divest itself of unprofitable business lines, as well as valuable assets such as several stores in Japan (e.g., Kokura and Kurosaki) and some overseas stores, including ones in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Taipei.

Other overseas Sogo stores survived under independent franchises, through which the Japanese company has also managed to raise capital.

In Japan, Sogo is a subsidiary of Millennium Retailing (now renamed asSogo & Seibu).

The Sogo logo

Since its founding in 1830 Sogo has used as their logo, the family crest (mon (emblem)) of a silk shop. The logo consists of a circle with a shape inside that depicts winding the warp on a loom (called 'chikiri' in Japanese), a nod to the company's origin as a second-hand kimono shop. The word 'Chikiri' in Japanese, also relates to the act of taking a vow or promise.^[2]

Locations

Japan

As of 2018, Sogo Department Store has locations in Yokohama, Chiba, Hiroshima, Omiya, Kawaguchi, Seishin and Tokushima.^[3]

In August 2020, Sogo closed its stores in Seishin and Tokushima, followed by the closing of the Kawaguchi store in February 2021 due to declining sales.^[4]


Kanto region	Kansai & Chugoku region
Saitama (Omiya)	Hiroshima (Hiroshima)
Chiba (Chiba)
Kanagawa (Yokohama)

China

Sogo Department stores in China are operated by Taiwan-basedPacific Sogo.Stores are located in Beijing, three in Shanghai, two inChengdu,two inChongqingand one inDalian,as of August 2007.^[5]It appears that all of the branches have shut down.

Jiuguang Department Store

In 2004,Jiuguang Department Storein Shanghai was opened as a joint venture betweenLifestyle International Holdingsof Hong Kong, the owner ofSogo Hong Kongand the state-ownedJoinbuy Groupof Shanghai. The department store is located in the fashionableJing'an Districtadjacent to theJing'an Temple,on West Nanjing Road. The store operation is a clone of the Sogo in Hong Kong including the high-end supermarketFreshmartand Beaute @ Jiuguang (instead of Beaute @ Sogo).

The store also brought in some very exclusive designers, a lot of which had their first counter in Mainland China such asThomas Pink,Jean Paul GaultierandVivienne Westwood.Currently, besides Shanghai, Jiuguang also opened in Suzhou and Dailan.

Hong Kong

TheCauseway Baystore onHong Kong Islandopened in 1985. The store itself was colloquially referred as "Jumbo Sogo" after its subsequent expansion. Following Sogo Group's collapse and bankruptcy in Japan after theAsian financial crisis,Sogo Hong Kong, including the 40,500-square-meter retail property located in Causeway Bay, was sold for US$453.6 million to two local billionaires,Thomas Lauof Chinese Estates andHenry ChengofChow Tai Fook Enterprises.^[6]The new owners took Sogo public with the help of Lifestyle International in 2004.

Sogo Hong Kong Co. Ltd, the Sogo franchisee, now operates one additional store inTsim Sha Tsui,which opened on September 30, 2005, marking the 25th anniversary of Sogo in Hong Kong. The Causeway Bay store added a large extension, which opened on November 22, 1993. The enlarged store carries items in all product categories across the 15-story building. It includes theSogo Club,Sogo Book club,and a new annex building namedBeauté by Sogo.The Tsim Sha Tsui branch focuses on designer fashions.

Lifestyle International Holdings Limited, the holding company of SOGO, was listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on 15 April 2004. It is a member of theInternational Association of department stores.

Indonesia

InIndonesia,Sogo is operated by PT Mitra Adiperkasa Tbk (which also operates Sogo's sister department store chainSeibu) through its subsidiary PT Panen Lestari Indonesia (which was acquired by Mitra Adiperkasa in 2003). The first Indonesia Sogo store was opened in 1990 atPlaza Indonesia.The store was later closed in February 2006 due to the renovation of the shopping mall. The Sogo flagship store and management office were moved toPlaza Senayan,currently the largest store with six levels. All stores are located in high-end shopping malls in Indonesia, listed below.

Jakarta	Tangerang	Bandung	Surabaya	Bali	Borneo	Medan
Plaza Senayan	Supermal Karawaci	Paris van Java	Tunjungan Plaza4	Discovery Shopping Mall	Big Mall Samarinda	Sun Plaza
Pondok Indah Mall2			Galaxy Mall2	Bali Collection		Deli Park
Mal Kelapa Gading3			Pakuwon Mall
Emporium Pluit Mall
Central Park
Kota Kasablanka
Lippo Mall Puri

PT. Mitra Adiperkasa Tbk., commonly known as MAP, also operated supermarket The Foodhall, previously known as Sogo Supermarket. The Sogo Supermarket brand, introduced in Plaza Indonesia since its opening in 1990, has been phased out progressively with the introduction of the Sogo Foodhall as a modern supermarket concept, before renaming it into The Foodhall Gourmet as Sogo Plaza Indonesia closed down. The first new concept store opened in 2005 in conjunction with the opening of itsPondok Indah Mallbranch, and eventually evolved into The Foodhall today. The supermarket that operated as part of Sogo are located below.


Jakarta
Plaza Senayan
Pondok Indah Mall 2
Mal Kelapa Gading 3
Lippo Mall Puri

The Foodhall is also located inSenayan City(as part of now closedDebenhamsdepartment store),Grand Indonesia(as part ofSeibudepartment store), and Central Park's extension, Neo Soho Mall. Other branches of The Foodhall are either standalone, operating independently inside a mall without any MAP-operated department stores, or operated underDaily Foodhallbrand. UnlikeThe Foodhallfor upper-class consumers,Daily Foodhallis operated for middle-class consumers.Daily Foodhallopened as part of Sogo on Paris Van Java in 2014, despite located in its extension.^[7]

Sogo stores that didn't include the supermarket are listed below:


Jakarta	Tangerang	Borneo	Medan	Surabaya	Bali
Central Park	Supermal Karawaci	Big Mall Samarinda	Sun Plaza	Tunjungan Plaza	Discovery Shopping Mall
Kota Kasablanka			Deli Park	Galaxy Mall	Bali Collection
Emporium Pluit Mall				Pakuwon Mall

Some stores also feature Planet Sports, Kidz Station (both MAP's inhouse brands) and Chatterbox Cafe. ABooks Kinokuniyastore was used to be located in the upper level of SogoPlaza Senayanas its Indonesian flagship store, but closed on April 1, 2021.

Malaysia

SOGO presently has three stores in Malaysia. The first store, known as KL SOGO, is located alongJalan Tuanku Abdul Rahmanin downtownKuala Lumpur.Connected to theBandaraya LRT stationby a link bridge, it sits on the site formerly occupied bySuleiman Courts.The SOGO store commenced business on 18 January 1994. It has a basement parking for visitors to park their car (SOGO KL parking rate)

Sogo's second store in Malaysia, located at the Centrali-Cityshopping mall inPadang Jawa,Shah Alam,opened on 11 April 2019, followed by the third store at The Mall - Midvalley Southkey inJohor Bahru,opened on 23 April 2019.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

The operator, Sogo (KL) Department Store Sdn Bhd, also announced plans to open new stores in Paragon @ KL Northgate inSelayang,and GEM Megamall inSeberang Perai,Penang. It also plans to open aSeibustore inTun Razak Exchange(TRX) Lifestyle Quarter in Kuala Lumpur.^[12]

SOGO also has been appointed to manage the operations of Mayang Mall inKuala Terengganu,as well as becoming the mall's anchor tenant.^[13]

Singapore

Once located at one of the busiest shopping centres,Raffles City,the Singapore flagship store was closed in 2000 due to the bankruptcy of Sogo Japan. The space has since been occupied by Singapore'sRobinsons.Sogo also once anchored Orchard Road'sParagonand DBS Building in Tampines. The DBS Building is nowTampines One,while Metro replaces Sogo in Paragon.^[14]

Taiwan

InTaiwan,Far East Sogo, as a part of Far East Group operates 8 stores. The oldest of these is located atZhongxiao Fu xing Stationin Taipei.

In 2006 Pacific Sogo found itself in the midst of a corruption scandal over gift certificates involving the family ofTaiwan's former PresidentChen Shui-Bian.In October 2006,Wu Shu-chen(the former President's wife) was cleared by court of accepting vouchers from Pacific Sogo in return for her influence.^[15]

Due to its ownership, Pacific Sogo brand was renamed into Far East Sogo in 2016, while the corporate name is still named Pacific SOGO Department Stores Co., Ltd. The company targeted Far East Sogo for middle-up to high-end customers, alongside its flagship brand, Far Eastern Department Stores, targeted for low-middle and middle customers, and The Mall, targeted for high-end customers.

Kuang San Sogo, located in Taichung, is not related to Pacific Sogo.