Bic Camera Inc., a consumer electronics mass retailer, opened a new shop Friday in Mitsukoshi's flagship department store in Tokyo, focusing on high-end products to attract affluent customers.

In a separate move marking a collaboration between different retailers, electrical appliance chain Yamada Denki Co.'s renovated flagship store in central Tokyo on Friday opened a floor dedicated to furniture seller Otsuka Kagu Ltd., which Yamada acquired in December.

The collaborations are bids by the electronics retailers to increase customer reach, which has been considerably chipped away by online shopping.

Bic Camera has 1,200 square meters of floor space in Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store's annex building run by Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd., selling more expensive products than those in its regular stores such as a large-screen 8K TV with a price tag of about 3.6 million yen ($32,700), and high-end speakers.

To further the impression of luxury, the new Bic Camera store's staff wear suits instead of the company's traditional red vests.

As for Yamada Denki, the collaboration with Otsuka Kagu is an attempt to sell a package of appliances and other household goods

Otsuka offers dining sets costing between 200,000 and 300,000 yen and luxurious beds at the Yamada Denki store. It also displays sofas at the store's section where Yamada sells TVs.

"It has become a store that can offer products for all aspects of our customer's lives, not just consumer electronics," Yamada Denki President Tsuneo Mishima told reporters at the store.

"We can reach a wider range of prospective customers to show our products," said Otsuka Kagu President Kumiko Otsuka.

==Kyodo

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