JTC, a Japanese post-tax-free store operator, has attracted China’s global tea beverage brand ‘HEYTEA’ as a new tenant at the large shopping center ‘DOTON PLAZA’ in Osaka, continuing its efforts to expand its target audience from group package tourists to local and individual tourists.
JTC announced that HEYTEA’s first store in Japan, located in DOTON PLAZA, officially opened on the 15th. Situated on the first floor of the shopping center, the store spans approximately 44 pyeong (146.75㎡) and offers excellent accessibility with two-way entry and exit, attracting both locals and tourists, and is expected to become one of Osaka’s representative ‘hot places.’
From the opening day, the HEYTEA store at DOTON PLAZA attracted large crowds. According to HEYTEA, the average daily number of visitors over the three days including the opening day was 600, with an average daily beverage sales volume reaching 1,500 cups. Due to opening events such as the ‘1+1 Beverage Campaign’ and ‘SNS Certification Souvenir Giveaway,’ long queues formed, with waiting times reportedly reaching 3 to 4 hours at times.
Based on the rising brand awareness and consumer demand for HEYTEA, JTC expects to secure new customer segments such as locals and individual travelers mainly from the MZ generation, further increasing the overall number of visitors and their length of stay at DOTON PLAZA. In fact, the company explained that the synergy effect of ‘customer attraction’ between DOTON PLAZA and HEYTEA is being maximized, as caf? visitors naturally flow into the shopping center to purchase duty-free goods, and passengers using the direct airport bus between DOTON PLAZA and Kansai International Airport (KIX) consume HEYTEA beverages during waiting times.
HEYTEA, which started in Guangdong Province, China in 2012, is widely known as the pioneer of cheese tea. It is popular for its menu featuring fruit teas, tapioca drinks (bubble tea), and green tea made with high-quality raw materials. Currently, it operates about 4,000 stores in China and has expanded its presence in global markets including the UK, Canada, Australia, and Singapore since entering Singapore in 2018.
Fumiya Yamamoto, President of JTC, stated, “We continue efforts to expand the target audience of our post-tax-free shopping center operations from group package tourists to local and individual tourists. We have selected DOTON PLAZA as a strategic growth base for business expansion and plan to actively attract new tenants to offer diverse shopping experiences to tourists and enhance customer attraction effects.”
Since 2017, JTC has been operating DOTON PLAZA, a large shopping center of 1,800 pyeong (5,950㎡) in the famous Osaka tourist area of Dotonbori. By providing direct airport bus services between Kansai International Airport and DOTON PLAZA, it has absorbed shopping demand within the Dotonbori area. Looking ahead, JTC is focusing on strengthening competitiveness by attracting attractive new tenants to capture the attention of the large influx of tourists expected from increased flight and cruise routes to Japan, the 2025 Osaka World Expo, and the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games.
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