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Huge sink made of Jerusalem stone in every store
Photo: Vered Brener
'Japanese prefer rose fragrance products'

Chinese woman brings Sabon to Japan

Joey Yasumatsu, Israeli body and bath fragrance chain's franchiser abroad, opens 10 stores across Japan within three years. 'We tell everyone who enters the store that the products are from Israel,' she says proudly

Joey Yasumatsu's mood has changed completely in the past few weeks. Only recently, the young Chinese woman, who works as the franchiser of Israeli body and bath fragrance chain Sabon ("soap") in Japan, walked around the chain's four Manhattan stores in a wonderful mood, talking proudly about the 10th store she recently opened in the Japanese city of Hakata.

 

But the devastating earthquake and tsunami halted the celebration. "Most of my family and friends are in Tokyo," she said about a week after the disaster. "They weren't hurt, but the telephone lines are still down and the only connection is through the internet.

 

"Our store in Omiya suffered the greatest damage, being the closest to the epicenter of the quake. The store in Yokohama was also damaged, the chandelier was shattered, products fell off the shelves, but none of the clients or workers were hurt. Some of our staff had to walk for hours to get home.

 

"It will take us time to recover, but one good thing has happened to us: Everyone is trying to help each other. No one is fighting or stealing, everyone helps, and we've become closer, like a family."

 

Yasumatsu, a computer programmer, was born in Hong Kong to Chinese parents and immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 12. She studied economics and business information systems in the US and Japan, and currently divides her time between the two countries.

 

She got to the Sabon chain accidentally: "I passed by the first store Sabon opened in 2003 on Sixth Avenue. I went in, and realized that this chain could be a huge success in Japan."

 

The beginning was tough. "I couldn't reach the manager in New York, and the management in Israel didn't respond to my emails. Only a year later I discovered that they had opened another store next to my house, and when I was walking the dog I stepped in. the store's manager was there and I told her about my difficulties in opening a Sabon store in Tokyo," she says.

 

The chance encounter was a turning point: The local manager connected Yasumatsu to the chain's management, and since 2005 she has been a Sabon franchiser abroad. Since then, she has visited Israel five times.

 

"I love the familiarity of the Israelis, the fact that each person has many friends, and the fact that the culture revolves around family and friends," she says. "In Japan, people spend less time with their families, and their career always comes first. People are also less direct, sometimes to the point of frustration. You don't know what the person in front of you is thinking. With Israelis, I always know exactly where I stand."

 

Yasumatsu will arrive in Israel in June for a three-month living trial, and in the meantime she's learning Hebrew. She takes pride in the fact that she sent each of the 10 stores she opened a huge sink made of Jerusalem stone, which is placed in the entrance to the store. "When I arrived in Jerusalem for the first time and was taken to the Western Wall, I touched the stone and felt a sense of pride."

 

High demand in other cities

Sabon Shel Paam (today's Sabon) was founded in 1997 by Sigal Kotler-Levi and Avi Piatok. The store Yasumatsu operates in Shinjuku is the most successful of all Sabon stores worldwide.

 

"Instead of opening five stores in Japan in three years, we've already opened 10, and they will be joined by four more by the end of the year, with the goal of reaching 20 stores in the country within two years.

 

"The development was speedy because every time we opened a store we were approached by residents of other cities and businesspeople who wanted us to open there."

 

Yasumatsu also trained the staff at the new store which opened in Paris last month through a local franchiser, and she is now working with a Sabon team in Israel , which is preparing for the opening of a store in Barcelona in the summer.

 

Meanwhile, she is also working on the global book of instructions for the chain, which already has 100 stores in nine countries (Israel, Japan, the US, Canada, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Romania and France) and is in negotiations with investors in Hong Kong and Korea too.

 

Were there difficulties because it's an Israeli chain?

 

"Not at all. We tell anyone who enters the store that the products are from Israel, and people tell us we've turned a desert into a fertile country."

 

Are products in Japan different than in other places?

 

"Generally not, although the consumers' preferences vary. In Japan, for example, rose fragrance products are particularly popular."

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.07.11, 13:59
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