Why do people come to GoOn TOKYO?

Besides running a studio, my main business is an advertising agency business, and Fukuoka is where I ended up living when I started working. I was born and raised in Kumamoto , and moved to Tokyo from university. I decided to go to Fukuoka when I started working there, and after that, I have been independent for 5 years now.

We wanted to do something on our own, even though we are an agency. . I still feel the same way today, but I felt that I was becoming somewhat empty when I was only working as an agency. When I wanted to do something, I wanted a place where I could plan, and that's when I decided to try a studio. I saw a business opportunity! . It's not that I saw a business opportunity, but I did it because I wanted to do it.

I started the predecessor "PARK STUDIO" in Fukuoka with a friend, but at first, rather than a box to rent as a rental, we were planning to make it an event space where we could do our own planning, since we already had various networks at that time. . But then Corona came along right after we opened, and all the reservations were cancelled at once....

But I had to keep paying the rent, so I borrowed money from the sales of the agency business, which had become a little more stable (laughs), and kept paying the rent for about one year and three months...I guess. Conversely, after Corona started to converge, reservations started coming in like a flash. Shortly after Fukuoka started, I decided to move to Tokyo, and I received requests from various brands to open a studio in Tokyo as well as in Nagoya, so I started both in Tokyo and Nagoya.

The first one we built was in Fukuoka, but there is no suitable place for new brands. There is one major space, but it is quite large, and it is just the right size for a large art exhibition or a talent talk show, so it is too large for some needs, and the price is quite expensive, so it may not fit our budget. We kept hearing that there is no best place that is a good size and has stockrooms and fitting rooms.

In Fukuoka and Nagoya, we hold events at commercial facilities instead of these places, but it is not easy because commercial buildings usually take a percentage of the sales as commission. With a fixed fee like ours, it should be very cost-effective for brands that sell well.

There are many exhibitions by brands. Especially pop-ups. In Fukuoka and Nagoya, brands hold pop-ups for the general public mainly on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and in Tokyo, there are many for buyers, so the weekdays are often filled as well.

I believe that the number of brands that are selling well only through e-commerce, but do not have a physical store, is increasing. There are many brands that have stores in Tokyo but have not yet opened stores in the regions, and they want to do pop-ups in the regions. There are also famous YouTube stars and Instagrammers. Most of them are brands, and in fact, a YouTube star with millions of subscribers held a pop-up in Fukuoka, and the lines were huge.

First of all, we were particular about accessibility. In Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Nagoya, gallery spaces are often located on the second or third floor, a bit far from the center of the city. In order to differentiate ourselves from others, we looked for a location with good accessibility, even though the rent would be higher, and in Nagoya and Fukuoka, we actually built our gallery spaces on a street surface relatively close to the city center. The cost performance is not that bad, and we believe we have created a good atmosphere, so we are sure that most of our customers will become repeat customers.

We have been in Fukuoka for a couple of years, so we have a few repeat customers every month, and then we get new inquiries. Sometimes a brand that uses our products announces them to us, or a customer who comes to an event likes our products and uses them afterwards. Many of our customers are in the same genre as us.

Yes, to some extent, we did anticipate the use of apparel, etc. . in fact, there is a lot of apparel and jewelry. We also have a large exhibition for illustrators, and since there are many popular illustrators, we thought we might have some of that as well. People in Fukuoka have a high sensitivity to content, and there is a longing for Tokyo, so when something that is popular in Tokyo comes to Fukuoka, there are many people who come to Fukuoka. In fact, brands have told us that they are very happy to be able to cover the whole area, because when they hold their events in Fukuoka, visitors come from Kumamoto, Saga, Nagasaki, and even as far away as Yamaguchi. It is also a test market for those who are not sure if they want to open a store in Fukuoka, and there are brands that want to test their products at a pop-up before opening a store in Fukuoka.

Fukuoka, Tokyo, and Nagoya are all done in an immaculate or inorganic manner. I used to think about preparing various things, but when a popular creator held a pop-up in the early days, I arrived on the day and found that the space was completely different, like a forest. From that point on, we aimed to create a neutral space that would be imbued with the user's worldview. . I put in good things such as sound and a projector, which was my own personal touch.

It really gets dirty. It's amazing. The way each client uses the room is completely different, so there are moments of sadness.... We once had a wall that was on the verge of collapsing, or rather, had already collapsed (laughs).