With the growing momentum of the sport, the expansion will continue in the future.

As of December 2016, how many sneaker stores does Mr. Motoaki have in total?

revelationThe total number of stores is 26. The breakdown is 9 each for "Sports Lab by ATMOS" and "ATMOS," 2 each for "Chapter" and "Kinetics," 1 for "Tokyo 23," and 1 each for "F ATMOS" and "Cham Cham," which are women's wear. Also, there is a New York store of "atmos" overseas.

Especially since the opening of "Sports Lab by Atmos" in 2013, you have increased the number of stores at a high pace to 9 stores in just 3 years. Is this due to the recent sneaker boom?

revelationThe world is moving in the direction of sports momentum in preparation for the Olympics, and everyone's lives are moving in the direction of comfort. This has caused people who have never worn sneakers to take a closer look at sneakers. This has created a situation where women who used to wear pumps or heels don't know where to buy sneakers. We are able to capture this segment of the market because we have stores not only on the street but also in department stores.

Atmos used to have the image of being a store for the core sneaker enthusiast, but is the clientele changing? Are you intentionally trying to broaden your customer base?

revelationNo, we are not intentionally trying to broaden our base. Our main target is the sneaker enthusiasts at the top of the pyramid, around the 15% level. That will not change in the future.

Do you have stores in each city in Japan, such as "ATMOS", and do you adapt your product lineup to the local market?

revelationWe have stores from Sapporo in the north to Hakata in the south, but what sells in Sapporo and Hakata are completely different. To put it another way, in Sapporo, we sell close to 100 pairs of The North Face's "Nupsi Booties" a week in winter, and we sell Mizusawa down jackets that cost 100,000 yen each every day.

Do you plan to open more stores in the future?

revelation: We are still in negotiations, but we are thinking of opening stores in Kanazawa and Kyoto next year. We intend to continue on the path of expansion, but to be honest, it is by no means clear that all of our existing stores are doing well. I think we need to do something about that.

It is our mission to propose products from a different perspective from the trends.

How do you see the sneaker scene these days from the perspective of Mr. Motoaki, who runs a sneaker store?

revelationIt is true that the sneaker scene has been booming for the past few years, but this situation will not last forever, and I think the trend is coming to an end. The explosion of buying that existed just a short time ago is disappearing these days. And nowadays, even ordinary girls have at least five pairs of sneakers, as a matter of course. Sneakers are now so common that it is no use to have more than five pairs. It's no use having more than that.

Therefore, we would like to propose something a little different from the past trends. For example, until now, running shoes have been the mainstream, but from now on, we would like to promote bash shoes such as "Air Force 1" and "Dunk". Unlike directly managed stores of manufacturers, we are free to do business without restrictions or ties, so we would like to successfully propose products that will become the next movement, and I believe that is our mission.

We are entering an era in which only "products that can only be bought here" are sold.

In the past few years, the number of tourists from overseas has increased dramatically.

revelationIt's a very big business. A while ago, there were a lot of Chinese, but recently there are a lot of Filipinos and Thais. Also, the number of Europeans is increasing again.

Many visitors from overseas are in the mode of buying sneakers when they come to Japan. However, the reality is that what is sold in Japan is not so different from what is sold anywhere else in the world.

After all, our business is generally 70% Nike. Nike offers roughly the same products globally, including "NSW" and "Jordan. Whether in New York, Hong Kong, London, or Tokyo, there is not much difference in the lineup of sneakers in the stores. Personally, I don't find that situation interesting, and I think it's unfortunate. We are a retailer, so it is a difficult situation, but we are thinking about how we can overcome this situation in the future.

Incidentally, apparel makers have already begun trying to do the same. Take this Columbia jacket, for example.

long vowel mark (usually only used in katakana)

revelationThis is a collaboration model between ATMOS LABO, an original brand of ATMOS, and Columbia, but customers from overseas buy it because they can only buy it here. When you get down to the nitty-gritty of consumption, it may converge on the question of whether or not something is available here.

Starting with "ATMOS LABO", recent "ATMOS" products have been focusing not only on sneakers but also on apparel.

revelationYes, I do. Many customers, especially from overseas, want T-shirts and other clothing. However, when a sneaker store does apparel, it tends to be souvenir-like items with a big logo. We want to avoid that, and create something a little more fashion-oriented. For example, in the Columbia jacket I mentioned earlier, the logo is subtle and unobtrusive. There is a fine line between comprehensibility and fashionability, and we want to strike the right balance between the two.

What is the daily lifestyle of a sneaker store owner?

What sneakers have you personally been loving lately?

revelationNike's "Flyknit Racer". I've been wearing these a lot lately.

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revelationI was also wondering how the durability of Flyknit actually is. I was wondering how the durability of Flyknit actually is, and I was testing them myself as an experiment. I have been wearing them almost every day for several months, and they are unexpectedly durable and have not broken down at all.

By the way, what is your lifestyle like? How do you spend your day?

revelationI get up at 4:00 every morning, run for an hour, shower, do laundry, read the newspapers, check my e-mail, and read for an hour before going to work. During work, I am usually in meetings. When I get home, I read the evening paper, then read a book for about an hour before going to bed.

I see that you value your time for input very much.

revelationI like to read, or rather, reading books has become a natural habit of mine. For a shoemaker, I think I read quite a bit. However, I don't think that reading books is useful for management. It doesn't help me, but I need to raise my level of common sense as a human being. For example, when you are talking to someone and the topic of blockchain comes up, what is blockchain? In that sense, a certain level of basic knowledge is necessary. In that sense, if you don't have a certain level of basic knowledge, it is not interesting to live.

Health" is an important keyword for all businesses.

Lastly, what is your vision for the future? What direction do you think the sneaker business will take in the future?

revelationI think "health" will become an increasingly important keyword, and not just for sneakers. For example, I have recently been wearing Nike tights, which keep me warm in winter and also provide support so that my body does not shake. I think that in the future, many people will spend more money on such items.

Let's face it, most people are no longer interested in fashion, right? Before you can say "cool" or "uncool," you have to be healthy first.