Dentsu, 2 Companies Set Up New Firm for Online Shopping Mall

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Jul. 2–TOKYO — Dentsu Inc., its group company Cyber Communications Inc. and Digital Business Consortium, which comprises 46 local newspaper publishers nationwide, on Tuesday jointly set up a company to operate an online shopping mall for selected local delicacies and artifacts.

Capitalized at 140 million yen, the new company, 47 Club Inc., operates the online shopping mall “47 Club” which had been operated by the newspapers’ consortium, the new company said.

The new firm is expected to benefit from rich sources of regional information that the newspaper publishers have accumulated as well as the marketing power of the two advertising companies, according to the company.

“We would like to promote a shopping mall which offers the top picks of each region selected by local newspaper publishers who have the best knowledge about their region,” said Kenichiro Kurita, a former Dentsu employee who assumed the presidency of the new company.

The new company aims at increasing the number of participating online stores to 1,000 within this year from the current 580.

The online mall, which opened in April last year, currently offers about 8,000 signature products picked by local newspaper publishers.

Kurita, 40, who has long been in charge of newspaper advertisements at Dentsu, said he came to fully realize the information-gathering ability of employees at the local newspapers when he was visiting those companies on business trips as a Dentsu employee.

“Good food was always to be found at secret restaurants those employees at local newspapers would tell me about, not at the well-known places tourist would flock to.” Some items from established stores can be ordered via the Internet only through the “47 Club,” he said.

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