On the 5th, Mitsui Fudosan announced the establishment of 68 stores for COREDO Muromachi 2 and COREDO Muromachi 3, the second phase of the Nihonbashi Muromachi East District Development Plan, and the opening date of March 20, 2014. The first phase of the plan, COREDO Muromachi, opened in October 2010. Coinciding with the opening of the new stores, 15 stores at COREDO Muromachi and Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower will also be reopening on the same day.
The commercial concept for the new facility and the renovated stores is "Nihonbashi, Enlivening Japan." A total of 83 stores will be located there, including stores offering national cuisine and specialty items, restaurants that are open until late at night, and lifestyle shops. The interior design of COREDO Muromachi 2 was entrusted to Super Potato, a design firm headed by Takashi Sugimoto, whose work includes the Park Hyatt Seoul and the Hyatt Regency Kyoto. COREDO Muromachi 3 will be managed by A.N.D (AOYAMA NOMURA DESIGN), led by Ryu Kosaka, who has worked on Mandarin Oriental Tokyo Main Dining and W-HOTEL Guangzhou FeiUltra Lounge.
As with COREDO Muromachi, many new store formats will be opening by long-established, renowned restaurants. COREDO Muromachi 2 will feature a sukiyaki-ju specialty restaurant run by Ningyocho Imahan, a long-established sukiyaki restaurant; COREDO Muromachi 3 will house Tsuruya Yoshinobu, a long-established Kyoto confectionery shop, and Kayanoya, a dashi and seasoning specialty store founded in 1893; and COREDO Muromachi will feature Kyo Tsukemono Nishiri, a long-established Kyoto pickle shop.
A food sales zone with a live atmosphere will be set up on the basement floor of COREDO Muromachi 2. The complex will bring together 22 restaurants under the concept of "by Today - Freshly Made Today," including a soup specialty store by Ginza's Perignon, a cookie specialty store by Yonemura, made-to-order hamburgers by Nakasei, and dim sum from Chungking Chinese Restaurant, a long-established restaurant in Yokohama Chinatown.
The dining zone on the first basement floor of Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower has been renovated as COREDO Muromachi Tower Dining. A new service will be introduced that allows diners to order menu items from other restaurants at the same time during dinner time. Restaurants that will be opening include the American grill restaurant The Beat Diner, Hokkoriya, serving dishes such as oyakodon and chicken ramen, and Kamatake-ryu Udon Issun Ippai, which has gained popularity in Osaka.
A highlight of COREDO Muromachi 3 is the variety store that proposes a new lifestyle. Eighteen stores, all dedicated to craftsmanship, will propose new avenues for "food, clothing, and shelter," including MUJI, which will open for the first time in Nihonbashi, CLASKA gallery&shop "DO," the first store with a cafe attached, and SUS gallery, which was selected as a gift for the world leaders attending APEC 2010.
Apart from food, drink, and merchandise, another noteworthy store will be TOHO Cinemas Nihonbashi, a cinema complex opening in COREDO Muromachi 2. In addition to nine screens and approximately 1,800 seats, it will be the first in Tokyo to feature the proprietary TCX (TOHO CINEMAS EXTRA LARGE SCREEN) system and the revolutionary cinema sound system Dolby Atmos, which allows for three-dimensional reproduction. It aims to set a new standard for urban cinema complexes.
