Timbuk2 opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Japan. Located within The Lodge – a premier multi-brand store in Kyoto City – Timbuk2 is prominently featured in to be in front of the active, stylish consumers of Kyoto, matching the city’s celebrated community-centered background. Most notably, this is the first time Timbuk2’s Custom Bag Builder, for purchasing made-in-San Francisco bags, will be available in a language other than English.
The 190 sq. ft. shop-in-shop is located at 220, Takamiya-cho, Takakuranishi-Iru, Oikedori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto, Japan, a space known for hosting contemporary, high-end fashion shops alongside stores with centuries of history selling traditional Kyoto crafts and specialty foods. The vibrant scene will offer a warm home for Timbuk2’s first (of more to come) brick-and-mortar spaces in Japan. Among various notable design features, the real show stopper is the in-store customizer, featuring over 60 stylish fabrics, which will evolve with each season. As the second of only two outside North America, this customizer tops charts as the first-ever Timbuk2 in-store customizer to offer all text, instructions and currency in the local language. All custom bags are handmade in Timbuk2’s San Francisco factory and shipped out within a week of order.
“We chose Kyoto because of its beauty, sensibility, ambiance and shared vision with us. Timbuk2 strives to make its customers’ lives more seamless, be it through travel, commute or bike: it’s in our DNA,” said Timbuk2 CEO Patti Cazzato. “This is why it was key the customizer in our Kyoto store be offered entirely in the local language and currency. Nothing is more important to us than having our customers drop in and design a custom bag in a fun and straightforward fashion.”
“For more than two decades we have been outfitting stylish, hardworking, free-spirited individuals with truly personalized bags, and we thought it was only natural we bring our most innovative custom offering to date to the Japanese market,” continues Cazzato.
The Kyoto retail space showcases the customizer plus exclusive designs of Made-in-San Francisco bags in small-batch quantity fabrics, limited editions, as well as Timbuk2’s entire product line of more than 100 styles of bags and accessories including the latest Spring 2015 collection. As the flagship store in Japan, this location will be the place where future collaborations and special events for Japan are launched.
Timbuk2’s first flagship store opened in San Francisco Hayes Valley in 2006. Known for its comprehensive customization offerings, the store quickly became the spot to design one-of-a-kind, hand-made in San Francisco bags and accessories, in addition to a hub for local bike commuting enthusiasts. Timbuk2 has since opened stores in Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Venice Beach, Toronto, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Thailand.
Timbuk2 Kyoto is located at 220, Takamiya-cho, Takakuranishi-Iru, Oikedori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto, Japan, 604-0835.
