Tokyo is one of the most buzzy capitals in the world, and is renowned for its innovative and futuristic retail spaces.

This month, most retailers are flocking to the popular shopping area Harajuku, for their new store launches. We are still seeing brands, particularly premium fashion companies, design their spaces to resemble galleries and museums. This also includes the partnerships and collaborations that brands are building, both to cement the authenticity of fashion as art, but also to benefit from the community popularity of local brands and artists.

This month, we’ve found a store incorporating robots and AI, another using the popularity of owls and wands, and an exhibition dedicated to jeans.

Here are the best new retail stores you can find in Tokyo this month.

Image credit – Etro

Etro, Ginza

Italian lifestyle brand Etro has launched a new flagship in Tokyo

The new space is rich and luxurious, with bright colours, and sections zoned according to different rooms, such as dining and bedroom. This enables customers to see what an Etro-decorated space can look like.

Visitors will find some of the brand’s key items, recently debuted at the Salone del Mobile 2025, including the Quiltana and Reed armchairs, Frame table and Woodstock sofa.

Customers can also purchase a range of textiles, including table linens, curtains and cushions, all created from opulent fabrics with rich colours. At an upper level they can find a range of clothing and accessories for women and men. The store offers a range of made-to-order services for customers looking for bespoke jackets and suits, with options for buttons, embellishments and lining fabrics.

Image credit – Acne Studios

Acne Studios, Aoyama

A new flagship has arrived in Tokyo from fashion brand Acne Studios.

The exterior of the store, inspired by the city, is made from soft pink stone with large panes of glass, demonstrating the minimalism that the brand is known for.

Inside, the store features works by a number of artists and designers, including bespoke lighting from Benoit Lalloz, Max Lamb’s sculptured sofas and chairs, and mannequins by Daniel Silver. These designs create a contrast against the store’s angular metallic fixtures and fittings. This gives the space a gallery-feel, enabling customers to view the items in the store as works of art.

This gallery mood is complemented with a collaboration with Takuro Kuwata, who created a range of bright and unusual ceramic pieces. These pieces feature alongside a new fashion collection, designed exclusively for this location, including a Camero bag in rainbow colours.

Image credit – Guess Jeans

Guess Jeans, Harajuku

Marking its first new store in Asia, Guess Jeans has launched a new flagship in Jingūmae.

The store design evokes a blend of Japan and California, reflecting the brand’s heritage and store location. The brand partnered with a number of designers and Japanese creators, including graphic artist Verdy, on a range of events.

This includes The Gift Shop with Friends, a pop-up curated by Verdy, which showcases products personally designed by Verdy, alongside a range of Japanese brands such as Car Service, Secret Base Hiddy and See You Yesterday.

The store also includes a display dedicated to Guess Jeans, titled ‘The Next 40 Years of Denim’, where customers can view the brand’s archive and history, and what it has planned for the future.

Columbia Sportswear, Harajuku

Outdoor clothing brand Columbia Sportswear has a new store in Japan this month.

The new flagship is one of the largest the brand has opened in Tokyo and covers two floors. Columbia Sportswear has said that this enables them to offer the largest range of products in the country.

The store has been designed to reflect the brand’s outdoor ethos. The store has an extensive window display featuring images of greenery and trees along with the brand’s logo. Inside, the store uses stones and wood to evoke nature.

Columbia Sportswear collaborated with north NADO to create a number of items to celebrate the store’s opening, which are only available in the Harajuku store.

Image credit – Harry Potter Shop

Harry Potter Store, Harajuku

Harajuku is also the location of the new Harry Potter store.

Evoking the spirit of the Forbidden Forest, the store is located within an avenue of trees. The interior of the store also features Forbidden Forest designs, with owls and trees, and a statue of Buckbeak the Hippogriff.

Customers can find different Harry Potter themed elements across the store’s floors, including Honeyduke’s and Houses. On the first floor, visitors will be able to purchase a range of products, from sweets to clothing, designed with one of the four Hogwarts houses. They will also be able to purchase a range of exclusive items designed for the Harajuku location, including t-shirts, teddy bears and mugs.

On the second floor, artwork and prints from the graphic designers MinaLima, who worked on the Harry Potter films. There is also a wand counter to purchase a wand, and other magical products that can be customised.

Finally, customers can find photo opportunities and sweet treats in the Honeydukes area, and they can relax at the Butterbeer bar for drinks and Buckbeak Bun flavoured pizza.

Real x Lawson, Takanawa Gateway City

Convenience store brand Lawson has launched its new tech-focused store in Tokyo.

The store makes use of both AI and in-store robots to attract customers to its futuristic space. Customers will be able to see a very cute and friendly cleaning robot whizzing round the space, and have chicken fried by a cooking robot. Other robots working in the store include stock replenishment robots, helping to keep a display of drinks full.

Digital displays are dotted throughout the store at shelves, so that customers are able to get personalised information and recommendations, and more details about the products on offer, such as nutritional information. One display includes an AI avatar, based on a real member of staff, who is able to assist customers with queries.

The brand is also making use of agentic AI to gather data and create analyses of customer flow throughout the store, sales and employee shifts, to help managers make better decisions.