KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): Japanese furniture retailer Nitori Holdings will more than double the number of its stores in Southeast Asia and India to counter the prolonged slump in China, Nikkei Asia reported.

By the end of March 2025, the company will have 50 stores in those two markets from 31 stores a year earlier, Nikkei Asia said. Nitori still aims to have 49 new stores this fiscal year in China, which remains an essential market even as price cuts have been made since December 2023, the newspaper noted.

"In Southeast Asia, accelerating shop openings is the top priority," Masanori Takeda, Nitori's vice president in charge of overseas sales, was quoted as saying by Nikkei Asia.

Nitori currently has 11 stores housed in major shopping malls in Malaysia selling furniture and home products ranging from bowls to wall clocks.

The company’s first store in Southeast Asia was opened in Lalaport Bukit Bintang in January 2022 followed by Singapore. All in all, the company has more than 1,000 stores as of March 2024, according to its website.

The first store in India will be opened by December, Nikkei Asia said. Nitori opened its first outlet in Indonesia in July after its foray in the Philippines in April after venturing into Thailand and Vietnam last year.

"The consumption slump [in China] has only just begun and will continue for a while," Takeda reportedly said. Consumers in general are holding off purchasing furniture and durable consumer goods in China, he noted.