Parco

Current revision

Parco is a Japanese department store based out of Tokyo’s Shibuya district. The shopping complex consists of 55 shops ranging in products from the top new designers in Japan today.

Parco’s Background

The shopping complex was opened in 1975 during the formative years of the Japanese fashion movement and is among the most responsible shops and complexes in Tokyo for the advent of the Shibuya’s position as a central district for fashion and style. The complex is open each day from 10 am to 8 pm and consists of a wide array of European style coffee shops, café style restaurants, and dozens of fashion boutiques from the young and trendy.

The outside of Parco has remained the same since it was built, consisting of a simple white concrete building that presents little more than the store’s name. All of the designers inside of the complex are Japanese except for Yves Saint Laurent, consisting of shops from Comme des Garcons, Issey Misake, and Pink House. The store also has two sister shops including Parco Part II and Parco Part II, all located on Shibuya’s Park Avenue. A fourth store focusing on furniture and sports clothing also recently opened.

The Parco department stores are best known for their integration of a wide array of entertainment style features such as theaters and restaurants, as well as museums and courtyards. Parco has even gone so far as to start and operate a publishing branch that focuses on books for fashion and art.

Store Locations

Additional Parco locations are now located in multiple other parts of Japan as well, with stores in Ikebukuro and Kichijoji among many other districts in Tokyo and surrounding metropolitan areas.

Variety in the stores is large as well, mainly due to the different focus each store has and the large number of stores housed within. Various colored suits, ties, mens and women’s clothing from just about every major designer in Japan is available in some form or another in the various Parco stores as well as a small selection of Western fashion in Parco I and Parco III.

Children are fairly represented as well with stores such as Angel Baby’s Flying with Tinkerbell and many others sell everything dresses to jumpsuits for infants and young children. Prices vary greatly, with most items in the $90 range throughout the various men’s, women’s and children’s stores in Parco.

External Links

• New York Times Article about Parco II
• Official Parco Website (Japanese)