Why are luxury watches, paintings enjoying healthy sales amid pandemic in Japan?
January 9, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
This photo shows luxury watches sold at the Gem Castle Yukizaki store in Fukuoka s Chuo Ward, on Dec. 25, 2020. (Mainichi/Hiroshi Hisano) FUKUOKA Luxury goods such as jewelry watches and paintings are enjoying brisk sales at department stores and other retailers in Japan. Despite concerns of a shrink in consumer spending amid the pandemic-triggered recession, sales of watches priced over 10 million yen (about $96,000) are on the up at some stores. But how are consumer habits changing in the pandemic? We have more customers buying luxury watches than before, said Masakazu Yukizaki, president of jewelry watch retailer Gem Castle Yukizaki, based in the west Japan city of Fukuoka. At the height of the late December 2020 Christmas shopping season when the Mainichi Shimbun visited its Fukuoka store, one of 16 outlets, groups of customers could be seen sizing up