NAGOYA -- For 20 years, the city with the nation's highest private savings rate had only four major department stores.
That changed on March 15 with the arrival of department store giant Takashimaya Co., which says it wants to capture a piece of the customer pie and enlarge it by attracting shoppers from a wider area than just the city proper.
JR Nagoya Takashimaya Co., jointly established by the emporium and Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), entered a market that was saturated by the so-called 4Ms -- Matsuzakaya Co., Meitetsu Department Store Co., Nagoya Mitsukoshi Ltd. and Maruei Department Store Co.