Suzuran Maebashi closes in 2026; prefectural capital loses last department store

Suzuran Maebashi, the flagship of a Gunma department store chain, will close on 30 November 2026, leaving Maebashi — which once had six department stores — without one. The company announced the decision on 2 June 2026, saying years of redevelopment delay had made operations increasingly difficult and left no prospect of investing in the aging building.

The store is the heart of the chain's history: founder Kohei Shibuzawa began fabric wholesale in 1947, opened a shop in Maebashi's Chiyodacho district in 1948, and established Suzuran Clothing Store in 1952 in a room of eight tatami mats. The Maebashi main building opened in 1971, and the store expanded through multiple additions, including a 2002 expansion on the former Marui site. Sales peaked at ¥47.6 billion in the year ending August 1992.

Suzuran staked its future on the Chiyodacho central district redevelopment, a ¥47 billion project launched in 2018 that was to start construction in fiscal 2026 with completion planned for 2031-2032. The company was a landowner and planned a new store in step with the project. But Maebashi city, facing surging construction costs, omitted the project from its fiscal 2026 budget, and the timetable slipped to 2032 or later.

An executive said the company could not wait any longer: the city had announced delays and it was unclear whether the project would happen at all. The store had already closed its shoe hall and the new building's food floor. After closure, Gunma's department stores will be Takasaki Takashimaya and Suzuran Takasaki, which was rebuilt and moved in 2024.