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NEWS: Kyoto Animation's Physical Store Remains Closed Through March 2020




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AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 10:42 am Reply with quote
I'm surprised to hear this.

Obviously everyone at KyoAni has been through a lot, but I'd think that opening the physical shop ASAP would serve two important goals. First, it's a place for fans to go and express their support for the company and best wishes for moving forward. And second it's a source of revenue for rebuilding and moving forward. I'm sure there would be a lot of people who would want to drop by, express their best wishes and maybe buy some merch to help out at the same time. Sure, fans can buy things online, but I know if I were in Japan I would much rather want to visit their physical store as opposed to placing a relatively impersonal online order.
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bhl88



Joined: 02 Oct 2011
Posts: 255
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:38 pm Reply with quote
I remembered ordering the Eupho pouch on the international store (kyoanishopinter)

Wonder if it was the same as the physical store.
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DerekL1963
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Joined: 14 Jan 2015
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Location: Puget Sound
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:38 pm Reply with quote
AkumaChef wrote:
First, it's a place for fans to go and express their support for the company and best wishes for moving forward. And second it's a source of revenue for rebuilding and moving forward. I'm sure there would be a lot of people who would want to drop by, express their best wishes and maybe buy some merch to help out at the same time. Sure, fans can buy things online, but I know if I were in Japan I would much rather want to visit their physical store as opposed to placing a relatively impersonal online order.


I suspect that's part of the reason they're considering how it will operate when it re-opens. A shrine may be desirable from the POV of the fan, but it's very disruptive to the operation of a business.
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AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 8:52 am Reply with quote
DerekL1963 wrote:
AkumaChef wrote:
First, it's a place for fans to go and express their support for the company and best wishes for moving forward. And second it's a source of revenue for rebuilding and moving forward. I'm sure there would be a lot of people who would want to drop by, express their best wishes and maybe buy some merch to help out at the same time. Sure, fans can buy things online, but I know if I were in Japan I would much rather want to visit their physical store as opposed to placing a relatively impersonal online order.


I suspect that's part of the reason they're considering how it will operate when it re-opens. A shrine may be desirable from the POV of the fan, but it's very disruptive to the operation of a business.


I didn't mean to imply that they should build a literal shrine in the shop, just that opening the shop would offer an opportunity for people to not only support KyoAni financially, but also by wishing them well in person.

I'd admit that I don't know much about just exactly how much of a "traffic jam" of well-wishers that might cause, but I don't imagine it being a significant problem. Even if they had a deluge of people show up, that might cause long lines at the shop, but that's relatively benign--it certainly wouldn't disrupt KyoAni's main business.
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DerekL1963
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:32 am Reply with quote
AkumaChef wrote:
I didn't mean to imply that they should build a literal shrine in the shop, just that opening the shop would offer an opportunity for people to not only support KyoAni financially, but also by wishing them well in person.


I'm not talking about a literal shrine either. I'm talking about the effects from fans and well wishers effectively creating a shrine. Wishing to drop off gifts and remembrances, spending time in prayer or contemplation, etc...

Quote:
I'd admit that I don't know much about just exactly how much of a "traffic jam" of well-wishers that might cause, but I don't imagine it being a significant problem. Even if they had a deluge of people show up, that might cause long lines at the shop, but that's relatively benign--it certainly wouldn't disrupt KyoAni's main business.


I'm not talking about KyoAni's main business, I'm talking about the operation of the shop. To that operation, long lines (an uncertain but significant percentage of whom won't be buyers) are severely disruptive. It's not a physically large space, and it's located in a crowded neighborhood. It wouldn't take many (a couple of dozen?) to jam the store to the point where it's impossible to shop. A couple of dozen more can jam the small area available outside and potentially starts interfering with other uses users of the building as well neighboring businesses, residences, and possibly the adjacent street.

And that's setting aside the issues of keep the shop stocked and staffed... And disposing of anything left behind by the well wishers. And the emotional impact on the staff. Etc... Etc...

I'm not saying these problems are certain to happen, but there's sufficient potential that KyoAni is correct to consider future operations of the shop and it's possible impact.
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AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 12:57 pm Reply with quote
DerekL1963 wrote:

I'm not talking about KyoAni's main business, I'm talking about the operation of the shop.

Gotcha, I see where you're coming from now.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I doubt things would ever get that bad, but if I'm wrong, and they did get that bad, so what? A shop which is jammed with well-wishers may not be able to do business, but neither can a closed store. Best-case scenario they open the store, make some money, and have an opportunity for fans to pay their respects. Worst-case scenario the store can't do business because it's jammed with well-wishers...which is no different than the status quo, in which the store is not doing business either due to closure. The shop's already closed, it currently accomplishes nothing other than costing KyoAni money for rent/taxes/etc. Literally anything is an improvement to that.
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