Customers at MUJI
Japanese chain caves to pro-Palestinian groups?
MUJI fashion chain cancels its arrival in Israel, but denies move has to do with protests in Tokyo
The Japanese clothing chain MUJI will not be arriving in Israel as planned, despite having signed rights over to an Israeli retailer. The chain is denying rumors that the move was due to pressure from pro-Palestinian groups.
In April MUJI announced it planned to sign a deal with an Israeli firm in order to open a local store in 2011. But last week, the company's president Masaaki Kanai informed Israeli partners that its entrance into the Israeli market would be delayed.
Masaaki said that under his leadership the company had changed its strategy and decided to open up a chain of stores in the Middle East, rather than a few local stores in Israel.
Michal Ron Gavish, one of the partners who had bought the rights to the MUJI franchise, denied allegations that Masaaki had been influenced by pro-Palestinian groups.
"I'm sure MUJI will come to Israel, but it won't be in the coming years. I've learned that the Japanese have schedules of their own, and I don't feel slighted. On the contrary, they've been very impressed and believe they should invest here," she said.
But MUJI's decision to expand into Israel earned them a good deal of worldwide criticism, especially following a calamitous IDF raid on a Turkish aid ship to Gaza in May.
Protests were especially salient online, but some demonstrators went as far as to erect faux-IDF checkpoints at storefronts in Tokyo.
In addition, the Global BDS Movement, a coalition of organizations calling for an economic boycott against Israel, announced Wednesday that MUJI had canceled its entrance into the Israeli market because of its campaign.
However the firm said it had made the decision based on "financial" motives. "There are always certain organizations looking for international companies set to come to Israel in order to protest against them," Ron Gavish said. "But this is not the reason the stores are not opening in Israel right now."
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