Another retailer is entering the hotel arena

Muji, the Tokyo-based global retailer, will open its largest store to date — underneath its very own hotel.



The company will open a hotel in in Tokyo's Ginza district in spring 2019. The hotel will be located in a new, 10-story building that will also house a 35,000-sq.-ft. Muji flagship. The store will occupy the basement floor and go up to part of the sixth floor, with the rest of the space above devoted to the hotel, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.



The Tokyo development won't be Muji's first hotel. The company will open a hotel in Beijing and Shenzhen (China) by the end of this year. According to reports, the Muji hotels will be outfitted with the retailer's furniture, accessories and toiletries, and designed in the brand's signature minimalist style.



Muji is by no means the only retailer to lend its name to a hospitality venture. Several high-end European brands, including Bulgari, operate hotels. And American retailers are also getting in on the act. Williams-Sonoma’s West Elm division is set to open boutique hotels in partnership with DDK, beginning in five cities next year. Hipster leather brand Shinola will open a hotel in its Detroit hometown in 2018, and Restoration Hardware plans to open a small hotel just steps away from its flagship in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.



The Muji hotels are being developed by Tokyo-based rail and hospitality group Odakyu Electric Railway.