Mitsukoshi to close 11 small outlets by March 2010

TOKYO —

Department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd said Friday its subsidiary Mitsukoshi Ltd will close 11 of its small outlets operated at 53 locations across the country by next March.

Mitsukoshi will shut down the unprofitable outlets, which sell mainly gift items and women’s sundry goods, to improve business efficiency amid the economic downturn since last fall. The outlets to be closed are located in Hokkaido, Kanagawa, Niigata, Ehime, Akita, Chiba, Hyogo and Ehime prefectures. Mitsukoshi will transfer about 20 full-time workers at the 11 outlets to other workplaces.