Vol.18

The Cotton Nouveau that Changed My Life (Part 2)

Ms. Masuda was attracted to Cotton Nouveau and Representative Ikeuchi and decided to join IKEUCHI ORGANIC. Since joining IKEUCHI, she has been impressed by the company's inner strength as a company without lies, and has become a human being who is active both inside and outside the company as a retail store sales representative and manager for the first time. Following the first part, we asked her to talk about the atmosphere of the store she created and her vision for IKEUCHI. (To read the first part, please click here.)

Kyoto Store Manager Masuda

Anyway, I really like our kids.

–I think Kyoto Store has more enthusiastic fans than other stores.

I am the type of person who wants to tell people when I find a good restaurant or see a great smile. When I make a good friend, I introduce her to another friend who I think would be a great match. I think I welcome customers with the feeling that whatever they bring to the store can be used comfortably. I think that’s why I welcome customers with the feeling that they can feel good about using whatever they bring to the store. I think that from the second time, customers come to the shop as if they are visiting a friend. Yesterday, a customer came in with just some o-hagi (rice cakes) and left.

I want you to meet and experience a variety of people.

–Do you have any plans to pass on your customer service know-how to other staff members or to train them?

I am thinking about what I should do. In my case, I am blessed with many good friends. Those friends are always supporting me. I really want young people (staff members) to meet a variety of people and have a variety of experiences. If I think an event is interesting, I tell the young people to go to it. If I think this event is interesting, I tell them to go. I hope that they will exchange business cards at events, etc., and broaden their world. Just as I have done.

I talk about towels in various places, and people start to think of me as an IKEUCHI person, and from there, there have been many cases in Kyoto where people have connected with IKEUCHI through work or outside of work.

Organic 732 bath mats are the best in the world!

–What is your favorite IKEUCHI ORGANIC towel other than the Cotton Nouveau you are carrying now?

I like Cotton Nouveau because it is a very special towel, but I actually like Organic 732. I like big bath towels, even though they are burly, firm, and small (145cm). I told Representative Ikeuchi that if I were hospitalized, I would definitely take Organic 732 with me, and he said, “Such a firm texture, you can’t take it with you. I heard the representative say that through his two hospitalizations, he had come to want softness in his towels, and I realized that people are kind at the end of the day. I think there are people who want firm towels when they are in the hospital (laughs).

So, as much as I love Organic 732, Cotton Nouveau 2016 might be the first time I’ve had the urge to cheat a little bit from my beloved Organic 732. I would say that it’s beyond Organic 732. I thought this was great and said I think it’s the most successful year. That’s why Cotton Nouveau 2016 is selling so well at the Kyoto store. I also tell people that the Organic 732 bath mat is the best in the world.

–What do you like best about the 732 bath mat?

When I use this bath mat, I realize that the soles of my feet have so many nerves. I can feel so many things. I really think that the soles of our feet are very important.

I would like to connect with other fans in the future.

–Is there anything you want to do with IKEUCHI ORGANIC in the future?

There are many things I would like to do, but recently I have been told by many customers that they would like to have a horizontal connection with other IKEUCHI ORGANIC fans, not a gathering of IKEUCHI ORGANIC fans. When I read the questionnaires after the event, many of them wrote that they wanted to go to the dinner party as it was.

Like that, we would like to introduce restaurants and stores that IKEUCHI ORGANIC picks up in Kyoto, Fukuoka, Tokyo, and other places in Japan that we think are good from IKEUCHI ORGANIC’s point of view, in a book or as web content, so that there is a horizontal connection among companies. It would be good to have horizontal connections between companies.

We have an increasing number of customers who would like to organize tours and dinner parties with IKEUCHI ORGANIC. It would be fun to have everyone bring their favorite towels and talk together. I hope to eventually go on a tour of Tanzania.

I would also like to create IKEUCHI ORGANIC rooms in hotels and inns. Everything from towels to sheets and bath mats are IKEUCHI ORGANIC, and we are talking about having a limited time only event in Kyoto, or since a friend of mine runs an inn in Machiya, we could offer IKEUCHI ORGANIC products for a limited time only. There are so many things I want to do.

–That’s great motivation!

Every time I meet with Representative Ikeuchi, I keep telling him that I will be the next representative.

–So you are not the president?

(laughs) Isn’t it hard to be the president? I want Abe-san to do his best as president and jump over (the position of president) (laughs).

Interview June 2016
Interview and text by Mutaguchi, Kamio
Photographer/ Yuji Kimura (Kimura Photo Office)

Notes
1: A group founded by designer Kenmei Nagaoka, who also handles the CI for IKEUCHI ORGANIC, that carries out activities in the store style under the theme of long-life design.