World closed TAKEO KIKUCHI's award-winning Shibuya flagship after 13 years

In November 2012 World opened the TAKEO KIKUCHI Shibuya Meiji-dori main store — a three-storey, glass-fronted standalone on Meiji-dori in Jingumae, and the brand's first street-level standalone in 25 years. The opening coincided with founder Takeo Kikuchi returning as creative director at 73; he designed the concept down to the staff uniforms, with interiors supervised by Jo Nagasaka of Schemata Architects. The space won the Gold Award in the Shop Space category at the JCD Design Award 2013.

The years shaved the store down. The third-floor sandwich shop REFECTOIRE closed in June 2020 in the pandemic, and by the end the flagship operated only on the first floor. On 30 October 2025 World announced the store would close, and it did on 14 January 2026 after more than thirteen years — with events through the final day, but no reason given.

The announcement pointed customers elsewhere: other stores and the online store. The brand continues, but the only street stage built for it in a quarter century is gone.