The Leading Fashion Newspaper in Japan.Senken Shimbun

Japanese LOOK INC is going to purchase A.P.C. Japan the Japanese branch of the French A.P.C. on April 1, 2010 and launch the distribution of the A.P.C. women's and men's wear and sundries. The purchase price is not assigned yet. Although the plans after the purchase have not been determined yet as well, the Look INC administration has already started hiring new employees. The company expects to get balanced profit and loss next year and achieve the primary balance surplus in two years and also raise the sale up to 3 billion yen (retail) in three years. At the moment all the goods sold in Japan are imported, however from the next spring the company plans to obtain the license for production in Japan and produce up to 60% of licenses products in three years.
Before A.P.C. had a business tie-up with Japanese JUN Group for fourteen years, then in 2006 it opened its Japanese branch. However during the last years the Japanese company struggled hard times, in December 2009 the sales decreased by 15.5% (2.56 billion yen) comparing to 2008, and profit and loss deficit reached 2.33 billion yen (comparing to 2.82 billion yen in 2008). The president of the French A.P.C. Jean Touitou admitted "It was our mistake we did not pay attention to our partner's advice that the company must adapt itself to the Japanese market. It was very difficult to control the business in Japan." He also added "By allying with a partner who has good understanding of the Japanese market we would like to make our production mutually beneficial for both of us".