LoveLa Bandai

LoveLa Bandai (ラブラ万代) is a specialty-store shopping complex located in the Bandai City district of Chuo Ward, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It occupies the Bandai City Building, a facility that originally opened in November 1973 as part of the first phase of Bandai City's development, with Daiei's Niigata store (Niigata Shoppers Plaza) as its key tenant. After Daiei closed the store on August 31, 2005, the building was renovated and reopened on March 2, 2007 as LoveLa Bandai. The facility is owned by Niigata Kotsu Co., Ltd., and is leased in bulk to the Mitsui Fudosan Group, which operates and manages it through Mitsui Fudosan Retail Management Co., Ltd. The name "LoveLa" is a coined word combining "love-love" (rabu-rabu) and "burabura" (strolling), expressing the wish for a town where couples and families can stroll together. A second facility, LoveLa2 (ラブラ2), opened on November 2, 2013 on the adjacent site of the former Niigata Kotsu Silver Bowl Building, which had been demolished due to deterioration. LoveLa2 is owned by Mitsui Fudosan and managed by Mitsui Fudosan Retail Management. The two facilities are operated and managed as an integrated complex within Bandai City, connected by a pedestrian deck called LoveLa Bridge. LoveLa Bandai has six above-ground floors and one basement floor, while LoveLa2 has eight above-ground floors, with retail on the lower four floors and a self-propelled multi-story parking garage above. LoveLa Bandai's tenant mix targets the "new family" demographic in their 30s and 40s, complementing nearby facilities such as Niigata Isetan (aimed at middle-aged and older shoppers) and Billboard Place (aimed at younger shoppers). Major tenants include Kinokuniya Bookstore, Loft, UNIQLO, GU, MUJI, Francfranc, The Body Shop, The Suit Company, GAP/GAP KIDS, and GODIVA. The basement floor houses AEON Style LoveLa Bandai, which specializes in food and daily necessities for local residents; it was the first store to use the "AEON" store brand. LoveLa2's tenants include H&M, ZARA, Bershka, UNITED ARROWS green label relaxing, URBAN RESEARCH DOORS, niko and..., mont-bell, JINS, and the NGT48 Theater on the fourth floor. LoveLa Bandai and LoveLa2 are central components of Bandai City, one of Niigata City's main commercial districts. The complex is positioned as a specialty-store shopping center serving the local community and visitors, with a focus on fashion, lifestyle goods, food, and entertainment. The Mitsui Fudosan Group's involvement in LoveLa Bandai marked the beginning of its participation in the redevelopment of Bandai City alongside the Niigata Kotsu Group.

The history of LoveLa Bandai begins with the Bandai City Building, which was completed in November 1973 as part of the first phase of the Bandai City development in Niigata City. The building's key tenant was Daiei's Niigata store (Niigata Shoppers Plaza). According to accounts, when Daiei president Isao Nakauchi visited the site before construction, he was pleased with the prime location near the Bandai exit of Niigata Station and immediately decided to build a large store. In 1979, the Niigata store recorded the highest sales among all Daiei stores nationwide. However, after the collapse of the bubble economy, Daiei's performance deteriorated rapidly, and the Niigata store's sales continued to decline. Daiei abandoned self-rehabilitation and received support from the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan in 2004, leading to a major reduction of its business base. Under the subsequent store restructuring plan, the Niigata store closed on November 30, 2005. Ironically, the closing sale helped the Niigata store record the highest monthly sales among all Daiei stores nationwide in the month it closed. After Daiei's withdrawal, Niigata Kotsu urgently sought ways to utilize the former store site and negotiated with several major developers. On November 18, 2005, it was decided to entrust the overall management of the land and building of the Bandai City Building to Mitsui Fudosan, which had been jointly studying the redevelopment of the entire Bandai City with Niigata Kotsu. This was less than two months after Daiei finalized its store restructuring plan on September 30 and officially decided to close the Niigata store. The Mitsui Fudosan Group had already achieved results in revitalizing closed large-scale commercial facilities, such as the "LaLa Square" operated by its subsidiary LaLaport (later LaLaport Management, now Mitsui Fudosan Retail Management). For the Bandai City Building, the same method was adopted: Mitsui Fudosan Group would lease the entire building and operate it as a specialty-store complex with tenants. At the time, Bandai City's tenant mix was such that Niigata Isetan mainly targeted middle-aged and older shoppers, while Billboard Place mainly targeted younger shoppers. Therefore, the tenant mix in the Bandai City Building was designed to target the so-called "new family" demographic in their 30s and 40s, filling the gap without overlapping with nearby stores and creating synergy. With the basic policy settled, the two groups renovated the aging building and proceeded with tenant recruitment. For the basement floor, it was decided to maintain a food sales area as in the Daiei era. There were originally few food supermarkets around Bandai City, and Daiei's closure led to complaints from local residents to the city and Niigata Kotsu about inconvenience in daily shopping. After negotiations with food supermarkets and distributors, AEON was chosen to open on the basement floor. At the time, AEON operated general merchandise stores under brands such as "JUSCO" and "SATY," but because the Bandai store would occupy only one floor with a small sales area, and in consideration of local residents, the assortment was limited to food and daily necessities, and the store brand "AEON" was adopted. AEON unified its general merchandise store brands to "AEON" from March 1, 2011, but this store was the first to use the "AEON" brand. The Bandai City Building was renewed as a specialty-store complex and opened as "LoveLa Bandai" on March 2, 2007. The name "LoveLa" is a coined word combining "love-love" (rabu-rabu) and "burabura" (strolling), expressing the wish for a town where couples and families can stroll together. Of the 43 stores at the time of opening, 24 were first-time entrants to Niigata Prefecture. Kinokuniya Bookstore moved from the Silver Hotel Building, and Virgin Megastore moved from Bandai City Billboard Place. After LoveLa Bandai opened, Virgin Megastore changed its store brand to "TSUTAYA," operated by its parent company Culture Convenience Club, on January 20, 2009. However, following the headquarters' policy to reduce the sales division, the store closed on May 9, 2010, partly because it did not have a rental floor. The former fourth-floor space became vacant and was later occupied by the select shop "HANJIRO," which mainly handles used clothing, on September 17. The Mitsui Fudosan Group, through the revitalization of LoveLa Bandai, came to participate in part of the development of Bandai City together with the Niigata Kotsu Group. Adjacent to LoveLa Bandai stood the "Silver Bowl Building," which opened in July 1972. It had deteriorated significantly and was completely closed and demolished at the end of August 2011. The site was acquired by Mitsui Fudosan for redevelopment, and the project was carried out by "Lavenue Bandai Tokutei Mokuteki Kaisha," a special purpose company established by Mitsui Fudosan, under the project name "Niigata Bandai 1-chome Plan," with construction starting in June 2012. Mitsui Fudosan announced the store plan on June 24, 2013, and decided on the facility name "LoveLa2." Construction proceeded, and LoveLa2 opened on November 2, 2013. The eight-story building has retail on the lower four floors and a self-propelled multi-story parking garage on the upper floors, with a pedestrian deck added between it and LoveLa to improve circulation. The tenant floors house 41 stores, including fashion brands such as H&M, ZARA, Bershka, UNITED ARROWS green label relaxing, and URBAN RESEARCH DOORS, with 24 stores making their first entry into Niigata Prefecture. On May 24, 2015, it was announced that the exclusive theater for NGT48, a new group of the AKB48 Group scheduled to debut in Niigata City in autumn of that year, would be established on the fourth floor of LoveLa2. The theater was postponed and held its grand opening on January 10, 2016.

• 2016

  NGT48 Theater grand opening on January 10.

• 2015

  Announcement on May 24 that NGT48 Theater will open on the 4th floor of LoveLa2.

• 2013

  LoveLa2 opens on November 2 on the adjacent former Silver Bowl Building site.

• 2011

  AEON unifies store brands to "AEON"; the LoveLa Bandai store was the first to use the brand.

• 2007

  LoveLa Bandai opens on March 2 as a specialty-store complex.

• 2005

  Daiei Niigata store closes on November 30; Mitsui Fudosan entrusted with management of the building on November 18.

• 1979

  Daiei Niigata store records highest sales among all Daiei stores nationwide.

• 1973

  Bandai City Building completed; Daiei Niigata store opens as key tenant.

Specialty-store shopping complex targeting the "new family" demographic in their 30s and 40s, complementing nearby retail facilities in Bandai City.

• LoveLa Bandai

  Six-story specialty-store complex with one basement floor, anchored by AEON Style LoveLa Bandai.

• LoveLa2

  Eight-story complex with retail on lower floors and parking above, including NGT48 Theater.

1. 1ラブラ万代 公式サイトmitsui-shopping-park.com
2. 2会社案内 | ラブラ万代mitsui-shopping-park.com
3. 3LoveLa Bandai - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4LoveLa万代 - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org