The encyclopedia · Sales & Retail · Strategic decision · 2019–2025
Belluna's fashion mall RyuRyumall ran six years on losing economics
The catalog giant opened fashion mall RyuRyumall in June 2019, pivoted it to office wear in 2022, and closed it on 31 March 2025: ad costs outran commissions.
Belluna · 2025-03-31
What happened
Belluna, a veteran of Japan's catalog mail-order industry, entered the marketplace race in June 2019 with RyuRyumall, a fashion e-commerce mall aimed at women in their twenties and thirties. Popular online brands such as Yume Tenbo, Re:EDIT and Kobe Lettuce took up tenancy, and the site promised 'fashion that fits the me of today'.
The mall struggled from the start and in May 2022 was repositioned as an office-fashion site. The underlying economics never turned: Belluna's corporate planning office later said the balance between advertising spend and commission income was poor, and the site had been loss-making by structure — a red-ink constitution.
On 3 December 2024 Belluna announced the end: service closed on 31 March 2025 at 18:00, unused points and coupons expired regardless of their nominal validity, and the company noted the impact on consolidated results would be minor — a six-year experiment dismissed as a rounding error.
Why it happened
- Marketplace platforms acquire shoppers with advertising and live on commission; when ad spend outruns commission income, growth only deepens the loss.
- Belluna's strength was its owned catalog customer list — an advantage that does not transfer to an open mall competing for new traffic.
- The 2022 pivot to office fashion changed the theme but not the unit economics.
The lesson
A marketplace runs on the gap between acquisition cost and commission income. Belluna's catalog list could not fill it — six years, one pivot, and the mall closed with the impact called minor.
Aftermath
Belluna kept its core mail-order and e-commerce businesses; the closure's impact on consolidated results was reported as minor. Japan's fashion EC mall field keeps consolidating around the large incumbents, and RyuRyumall's tenant brands continued selling on their own channels and other malls.
Sources
- Belluna disclosure — "Notice regarding end of service for fashion EC mall RyuRyumall", 3 December 2024 (launched June 2019, ends 31 March 2025; external environment and usage cited)
- Net Keizai — "Belluna: factors behind ending fashion EC mall RyuRyumall", December 2024 (corporate planning office: advertising costs vs commission income imbalance made it loss-making by structure)
- Monthly Net Sales Online — "Belluna to close EC mall in March", December 2024 (opened June 2019 for women in their 20s–30s; tenants included Yume Tenbo, Re:EDIT, Kobe Lettuce; May 2022 pivot to office fashion)
- Ryutsu News — "Belluna / fashion EC RyuRyumall to close at end of March 2025", December 2024 (final order acceptance 31 March 18:00)
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