Yoshinori Matsuzaki, Representative Director, President and CEO, United Arrows Ltd.

Creating new "customer value" based on unwavering beliefs

Representative Director, President and CEO, United Arrows Ltd.　Yoshinori Matsuzaki(Yoshinori Matsuzaki)

■ Profile

Born in Saitama Prefecture in 1974, he joined the company in April 1998. He began his career at the United Arrows Shibuya store, working in sales, store manager, and general manager of the Beauty & Youth United Arrows division. In April 2018, he was appointed Senior Executive Officer, and in June of the same year, Director and Managing Executive Officer. He contributed to the growth of the group as the person in charge of multiple core businesses. In November 2020, he was appointed Director and Executive Vice President, and has held his current position since April 2021.

United Arrows is Japan's largest select shop, beloved by people of all ages and genders for many years. The company's president, Yoshinori Matsuzaki, was promoted to vice president in November 2020 and took over as president just four months later. We spoke with Matsuzaki about his career so far, the challenges facing the fashion industry, and the company's unwavering management philosophy.

To be honest, I didn't really like studying until high school. So, after graduating from high school, I just wanted to become independent as soon as possible without being told off by adults. By the time I was in my second year of high school, going to university wasn't an option for me, and I had already decided to start working immediately after graduation.
However, when it comes to work, there are many different types of jobs in the world. I struggled to decide what kind of work would suit me. The strongest feeling I had was that I wanted to do work that had some substance. I wanted to feel like the work I was doing was appreciated by people in some way. This meant that I thought a job that allowed me to directly interact with customers would suit me, so I decided to work in the service industry.

I was so impressed by the customer service style that I decided to join UA.

As a result, I chose to work in a hotel as my first career. However, as a high school student, I wasn't sure if working in a hotel was really for me, so after graduating from high school, I went to a hotel vocational school. After graduating from vocational school, I worked as a hotel employee for three years, but I gradually grew bored with the job and decided to quit.
I was wondering, "So, where should I work next?" when I happened to come across a United Arrows store. Looking back, this was a turning point in my life. When I entered the store, I was deeply shocked and deeply moved. At the time, salespeople working in apparel stores tended to look down on customers. But at United Arrows, the customer service was warm and refined.
Also, calling customers "kyakusama" instead of "kyaku" was quite unusual for me at the time, and it felt very similar to the way customers were treated at a hotel. I felt the kindness of the people firsthand, and I strongly wanted to work here myself. I immediately started looking for jobs, starting as a part-time staff member at a store, and before I knew it, I was gradually building my career within the company.

The mindset we value is "I want to make tomorrow better than today."

As I built my career, I eventually ended up being appointed president. I have never been particularly attached to my job title, but I have always had a strong desire to make tomorrow better than today, so promotion became a necessary motivation for me at work.
Although I didn't have a specific goal such as "I want to become president in three years," I was able to approach my work positively every day because I wanted to "be better than I am now," and I was prepared to take on any opportunities to advance my career whenever they came up.
Furthermore, the idea of ​​"making tomorrow better than today" was based on the idea of ​​backcasting. This involves thinking about where you want to be in the future in terms of months and years, and then working backwards from there to figure out what you should be doing now. I think that my habit of thinking broadly, not just about where I want to be as an individual, but also about what the ideal situation should be for the team and the company, was a major factor in my becoming president.

Unwavering "Customer First"

I think United Arrows is a very kind team. The fashion industry is a retail business, so we have to put the customer first and be kind. That's why friendly communication between the staff members comes naturally.
Another important thing is to make an effort to get customers to buy at the regular price. I don't think sales are necessarily bad, but selling sale items can disappoint customers who previously bought at the regular price. If that happens, customers may think, "There's no need to go out of your way to buy at the regular price," and leave.
That's why we strive to add value to our products so that customers will be happy to buy them even at the regular price. We believe that added value can be broadly divided into three categories: people, things, and space. People refers to customer service, things refer to the products and services we provide, and space refers to the interior design and other things that customers see in the store.

In retail, it's all about showing the details

As the saying goes, "retail = details," and the key to success in the retail industry is how much attention to detail you can show. For example, even something as simple as how a product is placed will have a different reaction from each individual customer depending on the angle and how it is presented. And constantly thinking about details ultimately leads to being able to fully engage with customers. We are committed to this pursuit of detail every day, and by making this a habit, we strive to make our customers happy.
Another issue facing the fashion industry is homogenization. This is a problem that arises when many companies try to make their products closer to the products they think will be a hit in the market. This problem is deep-rooted, and in recent years, not only products but also sales promotion strategies and methods are being copied. This will only lead to an increase in homogenization.
That's why we want to grow into a company that can create new trends while differentiating itself from other companies, without changing our basic stance of putting the customer first. We want to be an organization that can continue to bring about change without relying too much on past experience.

Message to university students

I'm sure you've experienced tough and difficult times in the past, and there will be more in the future. But those times are not the whole of your life, and a bright future awaits you. And it is you who will create the future. When you're young, no one will blame you for your failures, so don't be afraid to take on challenges.

Student Newspaper Online, May 28, 2022, Interview by Miyu Ito, 3th year student at Keio University