We want to be a place where all people can feel light and hope.

In 2024, IKEUCHI ORGANIC will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its flagship stores in Tokyo and Kyoto. Mr. Masuda, who has been the manager of the Kyoto store since its opening and is currently in charge of both stores as sales conductor and store manager, spoke about what the stores are aiming for.

Sales Conductor/Store Manager Masuda

We want to be a place where all people can feel light and hope.

Doing all I can for IKEUCHI ORGANIC

My name is Masuda, and I am the store manager at IKEUCHI ORGANIC.

I first met IKEUCHI ORGANIC in 2011 at the “Cotton Nouveau” event, and from the moment I touched IKEUCHI ORGANIC’s towels for the first time, I became a fan.

I began to visit events in which IKEUCHI ORGANIC participated, and gradually began to think, “I want to be a part of this company. I also became certified as a towel sommelier and began to study towels.

My wish came true and I joined IKEUCHI ORGANIC in 2014.

Upon joining IKEUCHI ORGANIC, I was given the job of store manager of the Kyoto Store, which opened in September 2014. The Kyoto Store is IKEUCHI ORGANIC’s second flagship store, following the Tokyo Store that opened in March 2014.

Although I was entrusted with the role of store manager, I had absolutely no experience in customer service or store management. At the time, I didn’t even know how to close a cash register or how to wrap a package. However, I was anxious about my job at the store, which was to convey the wonderfulness of IKEUCHI ORGANIC, which I loved, but I also felt that I had a future.

From that point on, I received help from many different people every day. I was supported by a large number of wonderful customers and great staff members, who taught me many things.

I spent each day absorbed in my work, and before I knew it, it had been 10 years since I joined the company. Now, my responsibilities have expanded and I am now in charge of both the Kyoto and Tokyo stores as a store manager. I am also in charge of sales, including corporate sales.

As an employee of IKEUCHI ORGANIC and a fan of IKEUCHI ORGANIC, I feel that this job is my true calling. Surrounded by towels that I love, I enjoy working here every day.

The feelings of “I want to meet you” and “I love you” are stronger than anything else.

What I value most in my work is the feeling of “I want to meet you” and “I love you.

The first is to be the kind of person that our customers would like to see in our products.

IKEUCHI ORGANIC products can be purchased online without visiting the store. What is the reason for customers to come all the way to the store? I think it is because they want to enjoy shopping with a sense of satisfaction.

When they want to make such purchases, they do not want to buy from pessimistic or lonely people. We tell our staff to be cheerful and smile, and at the same time, we place importance on creating a store where everyone who works there is happy and smiling.

The second meaning is to cherish that feeling ourselves.

IKEUCHI ORGANIC’s products are characterized by the fact that we can have a long-lasting relationship with one customer. For example, a customer who chose our products for a wedding gift may come back to us to buy baby products when their child is born.

Through towels, we share our customers’ lives. There are many moments when we are moved by this. Thankfully, over the past 10 years, the number of customers with whom we feel we have formed such a relationship has increased one by one.

When talking with staff members, it naturally leads to conversations such as, “I wonder how that customer is doing,” or “I would love to see that customer again. Thinking about these things makes me honestly want to make the store even better so that customers will come back again.

I believe that the feelings of “I miss you” and “I love you” are stronger than anything else. Because the store is a place where people and towels, and people and people meet, I want to cherish these feelings.

Believing that the future depends on me, I will walk forward

During the past 10 years, many things have happened and I have learned many things. Among them, there is one thing I have found to be certain.

That is “the future depends on me.

I felt this especially during the declaration of a state of emergency by Corona. The store was to be closed for a month and a half, and I and all the staff were vaguely concerned about what was going to happen.

However, just sitting on our hands was not going to get anything done. I thought, “We can’t stand in the store, but what can we do and what do we want to do?

And through all of this thinking, we came up with the “Online Zoom Store”. In the beginning, we were completely new to the idea, but thankfully, the store quickly filled up with reservations. Not only did we reunite with customers who had visited the store, but we also met many new customers.

The future depends on you. No matter what happens, let’s keep moving forward. I think this thought has become even stronger after the difficult Corona disaster.

Lastly, I have a wish that everyone involved with IKEUCHI ORGANIC should be happy and happy.

Our customers who use our towels. Cotton farmers and cooperating companies who support our production. The companies that work with us. The members of the Imabari head office and store staff who work for our company.

Our store is a place where these people gather and various encounters are born. That is why we want our store to be a place where visitors can feel positive and talk cheerfully about the future.

I will continue to stand in the IKEUCHI ORGANIC store with the hope that it will be a place that lights up the hearts and hopes of everyone.