ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the links between the fashion industries—including textile and clothing companies—and the retail industry and tackles the following questions from a historical perspective. Those questions are how have Japanese department stores built competitive advantage with clothing companies since the 1960s, how have they responded to the global competition between manufacturers, and how have they found the shifting competitive business environment in terms of sourcing? The chapter investigates how fast fashion retailers impact department stores and how department stores have transformed their value chains in the face of globalization. It suggests that competition does not occur within a single industry but within linked industries. Japanese fashion industries, including retailers and manufacturers, did not want to get involved in a price competition with Chinese companies. Retailers expanded their stores internationally and increased the volume of direct sourcing as a result of their increased buying power in countries with lower labor costs.
