After seriously considering the department store in Kumagaya, I ended up starting a smartphone class.

In December 2020, around 230 senior colleagues retired. It was a so-called early retirement, but not your typical one.

The company I work for, Dentsu Inc., has started a somewhat unusual retirement system. It involves signing business contracts with former employees who have become independent contractors after leaving the company. The system primarily targeted employees in their 40s and 50s. The company supports their independence by guaranteeing them a certain amount of contracted work, encouraging them to become independent contractors.

※ "Dentsu Inc. Transforms 230 Employees into Independent Contractors: A Path for Senior Staff" (Nikkei Newspaper)
　 https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOFK087EI0Y1A100C2000000/ 
 

Thus, last year, approximately 230 "former Dentsu Inc. employees" were released into the world. This article explores the work that began with one of them as the starting point.

※This article was edited by Web Dentsu News based on a Nikkei COMEMO article.
    Original Nikkei COMEMO article here

 

Small and medium-sized enterprises, Dentsu Inc., and Kumagaya's department store.

One reason for Dentsu Inc. employees becoming independent contractors is likely the "expansion of client opportunities." Dentsu Inc. works with approximately 6,000 clients, but Japan has 3.82 million companies, 99% of which are SMEs. Large corporations number only about 11,000. While Dentsu Inc. does work with SMEs, it's fair to say the number is still overwhelmingly small. So, the roughly 230 former Dentsu Inc. employees who ventured out into the world began working with these "SMEs."

Introducing Dentsu Inc. Talent to SMEs: CloudW Partners with NH (Nikkei Business Daily)
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUC041IQ0U1A101C2000000/
 

Around the same time last year, I also became deeply involved with a small-to-medium enterprise. I attracted a liquor store company with 100 employees to the first floor of my home.

※ "The PowerPoint that made 'I wish the first floor of my house were a liquor store' a reality." (Nikkei COMEMO)​
      https://comemo.nikkei.com/n/na59d08a0ec3c
 

This article generated quite a bit of buzz at the time, and my former boss called me after reading it.

"That Kojima liquor store thing is interesting. It got me thinking—are you interested in regional department stores?"

The caller was a former Dentsu Inc. employee in his 40s who'd retired under the system mentioned at the start. He'd held a pretty high position while there and had been my boss. When I later heard the details, he was advising a long-established department store in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture. Honestly, I had no connection or ties to Kumagaya, but

・A former boss who left Dentsu Inc.
• Me, still at Dentsu Inc.
working on a client project we never would have encountered had we stayed at Dentsu Inc.

That situation piqued my interest a little. He continued.

"This kind of story isn't just about some local department store. It's a universal challenge for regional retailers across Japan. So wouldn't it make more sense for Dentsu Inc. to tackle this as Dentsu Inc., rather than having a former employee sneak around doing it?"

This explanation made me recall the liquor company on the first floor of my house, and I found myself strangely convinced.

"I don't know how it will turn out... but I'll do it."

And so, I ended up taking charge of Yagihashi Department Store.

A Department Store Left Behind by Digital

Yagihashi Department Store, founded in 1897, is a household name among Kumagaya citizens. It might not quite qualify as a small or medium-sized enterprise. Yet even such a long-established business isn't without its worries.
The keywords for their troubles were "e-commerce," "young people," and "COVID. " Combining these into one sentence : "The rise of e-commerce drove young people away from department stores, and then COVID restrictions hit them hard." Faced with this situation, Yagihashi's management was at a loss. The situation was clearly dire. What could I possibly propose to such a department store? I, too, was at a loss.

Logically, the first keyword that comes to mind is "digital shift." The department store industry has long been criticized for lagging in digitalization, and Yagihashi Department Store was no exception. They had no online shop, and their only customer touchpoint was paper direct mail. They didn't even have a database of customer email addresses.

But even saying "digital shift," where should we start? I was feeling quite lost when I met another "former Dentsu Inc. employee."

The Expanding World of Seniors via Smartphone

This other former Dentsu Inc. colleague was a former peer in his thirties. He left Dentsu Inc. three years ago to start his own business. He then launched a platform connecting companies and job-hunting students through video. However, that business also faced reduced hiring demand due to COVID-19 and eventually closed.

When I had the chance to talk with him again after several years and asked, "What are you doing now?", I got an unexpected answer. He had started a new business: smartphone classes for seniors. From job seekers to seniors. His target audience had shifted 180 degrees, but it was a business pivot that suited him perfectly – someone who was originally digitally savvy and had handled regional newspapers during his time at Dentsu Inc. His words became the breakthrough I needed in my struggle.

"When seniors become proficient with smartphones, it has multiple benefits. Increased connections with family and friends can reduce loneliness. If seniors start shopping online, the e-commerce market will surely grow even more vibrant."

Ah, this is it. The pieces of my fuzzy puzzle clicked into place. I fired up PowerPoint as soon as I got home.

The Unchanging Value of Department Stores

From here, I'll explain using actual presentation materials. First, this one.


Yagihashi Department Store's customer base was overwhelmingly aged, with those in their 70s forming the largest segment. And the common challenge for both parties was the "digital shift."

So if only the department store shifts digitally, customers will just be left behind. This was likely the barrier to digital shift for regional department stores.


So what should come first? Encouraging customers' digital shift.
"Would you consider becoming instructors and starting smartphone classes?"
That's what we proposed.


First, having employees become instructors would foster a company-wide awareness of digitalization. Then, by having employees guide their own customers through digital transformation, customers wouldn't be left behind.

This way, we (Yagihashi Department Store) could confidently pursue our own digital shift. In the future, Yagihashi Online might become the norm.


What we prioritized in this proposal was ensuring the department store remains a place that provides foundational experiences.

Let me share a bit about myself. Looking back, department stores were places that gave me foundational experiences too. My hometown is Ofuna in Kanagawa Prefecture, where only supermarkets were nearby. So, for slightly nicer shopping, I'd take a 15-minute train ride to Takashimaya at Yokohama Station.

My mother would take me, and after spending nearly an hour shopping while the train swayed, I could eat a tuna rice bowl at the top-floor restaurant. The tuna in that bowl was arranged in the shape of a rose, Takashimaya's motif, and that was my original experience of a "luxurious meal." I'm sure Yagihashi Department Store was that kind of place for the people of Kumagaya.

Department stores are places that let you stretch a little, show you a new world, and provide that kind of experience . If that's the case, then offering the current customer base of seniors a new world through "smartphones" is also part of a department store's job, isn't it? That was the conclusion I reached after much agonizing.

Tuna rice bowls and smartphones might be the same thing

Three months after the initial proposal, the first smartphone class was held.
"Will people really show up...?"
Despite such worries, the class filled up immediately.

Participants were in their 70s to 90s. Over an hour and a half, my former colleague patiently explained "What is Wi-Fi?" and "What is a smartphone?" Finally, they finished by adding Yagihashi Department Store's LINE@ account as a friend. Witnessing that moment when customers and the client connected digitally left me feeling strangely warm.

Every time they learned a new feature, the participants' eyes sparkled. That look felt just like the one I used to give Takashimaya's tekkadon. And so, the job that started with a sudden invitation from my former boss, with the help of my former colleague, took its first small step forward.

When you're in trouble, your colleagues will help you. Even if you leave the company, if you maintain proper relationships as people, the day will come when you work together again.
This, in its own way, might be the essence of work.