Marui Imai and I

One of Sapporo's leading department stores, MARUI IMAI, is quite peculiar to me. I do appreciate that they do not invite Muji or Uniqlo to their upper floors, preferring to go with local businesses rather than AEON or other national giants. But I can't help feeling something strange—or maybe very Sapporo—in some ways.

1. Peculiar Customers: There are types of people here whom I haven't come across anywhere else in Sapporo. A lot of them. They are middle-aged or elderly, mainly female with the occasional male, shopping alone, and extremely well-dressed (whereas most elderly people in this country seem to just live on their pensions). They look somewhat out of this world. Local billionaires? Yet the department store itself, apart from the annex, sells rather ordinary "department store" items that even I can (sometimes) afford. And if they were billionaires, the store's Gaisho staff (or personal concierges) wouldn't leave them unattended. So, who are they?

2. Peculiar Shop Assistants: They are mostly sulky. I have occasionally met staff who were not moody, but only SOMETIMES. I have met beauty advisors who didn't offer a touch-up or a sample of a new product—things I often get at local drugstores. I also encountered a shoe fitter who never even tried to measure my size. Having been treated like an invisible person, as a result, I buy more expensive items (by my standards), such as shoes and cosmetics, at Daimaru, where all the staff treat me professionally (and with generous freebies). Did I do something wrong to them?

3. Peculiar Floor: Still, Marui Imai's third floor in the main building is, I believe, worth checking occasionally. Entirely unlike conventional department stores, it feels subcultural and somewhat exclusive—just like the feeling I used to have at the late Sabotino in Matsuya Ladies in Fukuoka. There are local independent store booths and a Flying Tiger Copenhagen, along with a section dedicated to the latest (by Sapporo standards) clothing, making for a random yet exciting exhibition. The last time I visited, there were second-hand accessories, handmade eyewear, and other knick-knacks next to high-end, straight-from-the-runway clothing. I was impressed by their eclecticism. The whole floor felt like a modern, high-end interpretation of Bunkaya Zakkaten in the 80s!