istyle Group Announces Its First Expansion to Thailand Launching "@cosme store ICONSIAM" - a selected cosmetics store - on November 10th!

Tokyo - istyle Inc. (HQ: Minato City, Tokyo; President and CEO: Tetsuro Yoshimatsu; Ticker Symbol: 3660; istyle, hereafter) proudly announces its launch of the "@cosme store ICONSIAM", the very first branch of @cosme store - the selected cosmetics retailer chain under the theme of "Try and Discover Cosmetics of Your Destiny"- in Thailand and the ASEAN region on Saturday, November 10th, under the management of its consolidated subsidiary, istyle Retail (Thailand) Co., Limited (President: Hajime Endo; HQ: Bangkok, Thailand).

1. Background of Expansion to Thailand

Thailand has the larger cosmetics market than any other Asian countries, and is the country of high interest in beauty care, which suggests the further growth potential. Additionally, @cosme has earned the good level of awareness as the "ranking chart to show the popular cosmetics in Japan" in Thailand. By launching the @cosme store in this country, we are committed to increase the awareness of @cosme brand in Thailand further.

2. Store Overview of "@cosme store ICONSIAM"

(1) Located in the new landmark of Bangkok - "ICONSIAM"

@cosme store ICONSIAM is located in the large business complex of "ICONSIAM" which opens its door on the same day. ICONSIAM stands on the 90,000m² ground on the west bank of the Chao Phraya in Bangkok, Thailand. Beautiful facilities under the concept of "World's bests meet Thailand's bests" including a shopping mall, two luxurious condominiums, and a 400 meter-long promenade which hosts the "water and fire" shows are constructed with one of the largest private investment in the country. This spectacular complex is expected to be the new landmark of Bangkok.

(2) Store structure following the features of "@cosme store" in Japan

The "@cosme store" is a selected cosmetics store under the theme of "Try and Discover Cosmetics of Your Destiny". Based on the analyses of WOM database and user behavior its website @cosme has accumulated, the store builds its MD to fully satisfy the "customer needs", utilizes IT in its store structure/operation, and uses KPI scheme to focus on the frequency of store visits and size of incoming traffic which it has built from its web services experience. The first store launched in 2007 - "@cosme store LUMINE EST Shinjuku" - is the highest selling cosmetics store in Japan. Backed by the huge popularity, @cosme store now operates 26 domestic branches (including the one to be launched on November 21st) and seven overseas branches. The operational know-how and features acquired through our experience will power this first store in Thailand.

[Features of the Store]

① Wide range of products from affordable range to luxury, department store-grade products
We will offer a wide range of products across distribution channels, just like our Japanese stores.

② Counselling service to solve skin concerns and makeup challenges
The counselling section and skin analysis area are provided in the store. Our professional staffs are educated at the equivalent level to our Japanese staffs and are capable of giving personalized counselling service to every single customer and suggesting the best products for the customer across brands.

③　Environment where customers can try almost all products
Testers are available for almost all products in the store. Together with the waterworks and trial aids just like Japanese stores, we provide our customer with the opportunity to try out the products anyway they want.

③ Event area to offer the "experiences" our customers want to share
Various "experiences" including touchup events will be offered at the event area of app. 15m² floor space to motivate customers to come back again and again.

⑤　Kid's area for small customers to have a great time
This store has the kid's area which is available only at some of "@cosme stores" in Japan for the benefit of customers bringing their family.

⑥　Comfortable sitting area
The area where customers can leisurely try out the products when visiting the store with friends/family or their company can comfortably wait while they are shopping is provided.

1. Store Facts

Launch date : Saturday, November 10th, 2018
Address : 299 Charoen Nakhon Soi 5, Charoen Nakhon Road, Khlong Ton Sai Sub District, Khlong San District, Bangkok 10600
Store Name : @cosme store ICONSIAM
Hours : 10:00 - 22:00　Open daily
Floor Space : 301m²
Available Brands : @cosme nippon / KANEBO / LUNASOL / Anna Sui / Paul & Joe / Excel / FLOWFUSHI / Sekkisei / KATE / Neal's Yard Remedies / Perfect One / Cher Couleur / Curel / Organika / Canmake / Cezanne and many more

Reference) Track Record of istyle Group's Global Expansion and the Business Plan in Thailand

Currently, the global operation is one of the key business pillars at istyle Group. We aim at "building the common DB of cosmetics/beauty care of the world and establishing/popularizing the '@cosme' brand" through overseas expansion. Our passion for the future is to create the environment in which any user in the world can use "@cosme" with a single ID in the language of her/his choice anytime anywhere and beauty care services including localized stores and EC are available.

At present, we operate in seven countries/territory including Hong Kong and Korea entered in 2018, and Thailand is the 8th country to expand into.
Our sales has been growing steadily, and the Q1 sales in FY ending in June 2019 was 2.23 billion yen. The major contributors are our 1st @cosme store in Hong Kong, launched in June, and CBEC as well as the strong wholesale business to duty free stores in Korea. The overseas sales now accounts for app. 28% of the total sales of istyle Group. For the Thai business, we currently plan to launch around five stores in three years.

[Corporate Overview: istyle Inc.]
http://www.istyle.co.jp/ | First Section, Tokyo Stock Exchange; Ticker Symbol: 3660
Location: Ark Mori Building 34th FL, 1-12-32 Akasaka, Minato City, Tokyo
Established : July 27, 1999
Capital : 3.556 billion yen
Representative Officer : Tetsuro Yoshimatsu, President and CEO
Business Scope : Plan/operation of the comprehensive beauty care portal, @cosme, and related ad services

[Corporate Overview: istyle Retail (Thailand) Co., Limited]
Location : 304,308 L Building Phaya Thai Road, Khwaeng Thanon Phetchaburi, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
Foundation : April 28, 2018
Representative Officer : Takashi Endo, President
Business Scope : Management/operation of cosmetics stores

[Contact]
Corporate Communication Office, istyle Inc.
Phone : 03-5575-1286
Fax : 03-5575-1261
Email : istyle-press@istyle.co.jp