NITTOH MALL

NITTOH MALL (ニットーモール) is a shopping center located in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, directly adjacent to Kumagaya Station. It is managed and operated by Sojitz Commercial Development Co., Ltd. The center opened on October 4, 1979, on the former site of the Nitto Flour Milling Kumagaya factory, as part of the Kumagaya Station eastern district redevelopment plan. The original developer was Nitto Urban Development Co., Ltd., established in 1973 by Nitto Flour Milling, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Mitsubishi Bank. At opening, the core tenant was Daiei's Kumagaya store, which occupied 16,800 m² of the 22,190 m² store area, alongside a specialty store street with 72 shops. The center featured a four-story reinforced concrete building with rooftop parking and a central court. Over the years, NITTOH MALL underwent several renovations, including a full renovation of the specialty store street in 1986, a renovation of the restaurant area in 1990, and the opening of the annex building CARPA in 1996. After Daiei withdrew in 2002, the mall repositioned itself as a community-oriented shopping center, with Yaoko opening as the new core grocery tenant in 2003. Ownership and management changed over time: the property was securitized in 2005, Nitto Urban Development merged with Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development in 2007, and in 2016 management was transferred to Sojitz Commercial Development. Today, NITTOH MALL continues to serve the Kumagaya area with a mix of retail, services, and dining, and is connected via a deck to the adjacent Tiara 21 complex and Kumagaya Station.

The origin of NITTOH MALL lies in the redevelopment of the area east of Kumagaya Station, prompted by the construction of a new Shinkansen station building and the consolidation of freight yards. Nitto Flour Milling (now Nitto Fuji Flour Milling) owned a factory site of about 4,500 tsubo adjacent to the station, and approximately 2,600 tsubo of that site was designated for a shopping center. In September 1973, Nitto Urban Development Co., Ltd. was established with capital of 100 million yen, jointly funded by Nitto Flour Milling, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Mitsubishi Bank. The president of Nitto Flour Milling, Taki Masaaki, also served as president of the new company. The Nitto Flour Milling Kumagaya factory was closed the same month. In May 1976, the company filed a notification under Article 3 of the Large-Scale Retail Store Law, the first such filing in Kumagaya City. The initial plan envisioned a building with one basement floor and six above-ground floors, total floor area of about 60,000 m², store area of about 33,000 m², and parking for about 300 cars. However, in November 1977, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry recommended reducing the core store area to about 13,000 m² and the specialty store area to about 4,000 m². Kumagaya City approved the development on condition that the front road be widened to 8 meters and parking spaces increased. Construction began on September 18, 1978. The mall opened on October 4, 1979, as a four-story reinforced concrete building with rooftop parking. The specialty store street on the first and second floors featured a central atrium called Central Court, and a multipurpose hall was located on the fourth floor. At opening, the core tenant Daiei Kumagaya store occupied 16,800 m² of the 22,190 m² store area, while the specialty store street had 72 shops in 5,390 m². Of these, 34 were local merchants from Saitama Prefecture (23 from Kumagaya City), accounting for about 40% of the specialty store area. The center had parking for 900 cars from the start, and despite its station-front location, about 60% of customers arrived by car, drawing from a wide trade area of about 20 km radius, mainly on weekends. The target audience initially was new families in their 30s and 40s, but the customer base became younger, with those in their 20s accounting for about 70% by the mid-1980s. Sales grew steadily until the mid-1980s, but because Kumagaya's population was not growing much, the mall aimed to broaden its customer base. In November 1986, the specialty store street underwent a full renovation, including tenant relocations and new store introductions. The core tenant Daiei also fully renovated and reopened in September 1987, extending its operating hours by 30 minutes to match the specialty store street. These active renovations helped sales reach 149.5% of first-year sales by the eighth year. By the late 1980s, the specialty store street achieved sales efficiency comparable to fashion buildings in major city centers (annual sales of 5 million yen per tsubo). Sales continued to grow, reaching about 180% of first-year sales in the early 1990s. However, the restaurants on the fourth floor, despite claiming to be Japanese, Western, and Chinese specialty stores, were not sufficiently specialized, causing menu competition within the mall. Restaurant sales declined or remained flat after the first year, falling to about 70% of first-year sales by the early 1990s. A survey of restaurants in the trade area showed that stores with clear concepts performed well. Therefore, the mall changed the tenant mix to clearly differentiate between Western, Japanese, pasta, udon, and tonkatsu specialty stores. It also increased the area for service stores and reduced the restaurant area from 308 tsubo (567 seats) to 141 tsubo (291 seats), reopening the restaurant area on October 24, 1990. As a result, although the restaurant area was reduced to about 45% of its pre-renovation size, daily sales became about 85% of previous levels, greatly improving sales per tsubo. Thanks to these active sales policies, the core tenant Daiei Kumagaya store's sales reached about 9.5 billion yen in the fiscal year ending February 1994. On June 28, 1996, the four-story annex building CARPA opened with a sales area of about 3,000 m² and parking for 338 cars, housing a computer specialty store and amusement facilities to strengthen customer attraction. However, the core tenant Daiei Kumagaya store saw sales decline due to competition, falling to about 4.428 billion yen in the fiscal year ending February 2002, less than half of its peak. As part of Daiei's restructuring, the store closed on December 31, 2002. In response to the withdrawal of the core tenant, the mall underwent a large-scale renovation aimed at becoming a community-oriented shopping center that strengthens food sales to increase visit frequency. As the new core tenant, Yaoko Kumagaya Nittoh Mall store opened on April 25, 2003. In 2013, a four-phase renovation was implemented. In terms of ownership, the land and buildings of NITTOH MALL were sold by Nitto Urban Development through real estate securitization in March 2005, and the operation was changed to a master lease format. In October 2007, Nitto Urban Development merged with Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development. In April 2016, management was transferred from Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development to Sojitz Commercial Development, with Marubeni Real Estate Management entrusted only with BM operations. The mall is connected to Tiara 21 by an outdoor walkway on the second floor, and Tiara 21 connects directly to Kumagaya Station and the station building Az Kumagaya on the third floor.

• 2016

  Management transferred from Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development to Sojitz Commercial Development in April.

• 2013

  Four-phase renovation implemented.

• 2007

  Nitto Urban Development merged with Mitsubishi Corporation Urban Development in October.

• 2005

  Land and buildings sold through real estate securitization in March; operation changed to master lease.

• 2004

  Outdoor connecting walkway with Tiara 21 began use on November 20.

• 2003

  Full renovation with new core tenant Yaoko Kumagaya Nittoh Mall store opening on April 25.

• 2002

  Core tenant Daiei Kumagaya store withdrew on December 31.

• 1996

  Annex building CARPA opened on June 28.

• 1990

  Restaurant area fully renovated on October 24.

• 1987

  Core tenant Daiei fully renovated and reopened in September.

• 1986

  Specialty store street fully renovated in November.

• 1979

  NITTOH MALL opened on October 4.

• 1978

  Construction began on September 18.

• 1976

  Filed notification under Article 3 of the Large-Scale Retail Store Law on May 10, the first in Kumagaya City.

• 1973

  Nitto Urban Development Co., Ltd. established on September 21 with capital of 100 million yen by Nitto Flour Milling, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Mitsubishi Bank.

Community-oriented shopping center adjacent to Kumagaya Station, with a wide trade area and emphasis on food and daily necessities.

• Specialty store street

  A collection of specialty shops on the first and second floors, with a central atrium called Central Court.

• CARPA annex

  A four-story annex opened in 1996 with about 3,000 m² of sales area and 338 parking spaces.

• Yaoko Kumagaya Nittoh Mall store

  The core supermarket tenant since 2003.

1. 1Nittoh Mall - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2ニットーモール - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org
3. 3NITTOH MALL official sitenittohmall.com