Asako Shimazaki, president of Muji U.S.A., is smartly adapting the popular Japanese brand for organization-obsessed shoppers.
If it seems like the minimalist aesthetic of Japanese housewares brand Muji is everywhere these days, you have Asako Shimazaki to thank. As president of Muji U.S.A., Shimazaki oversaw the launch of a two-story flagship on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan last year, as well as a sprawling new outpost in Palo Alto. The opening of a store in Paramus, New Jersey, this summer will bring the number of American locations to 12 (worldwide, there are more than 400). The timing couldn't be better: Japanese writer Marie Kondo's 2011 self-help tome, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, is a mainstay on U.S. best-seller lists, and with meticulously organized shelves of unadulturated storage containers, kitchenware, and bathroom accessories, Muji offers everything a reformed pack rat needs to keep clutter at bay. Shimazaki is shaping the way the 35-year-old brand is presented to American consumers.
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