Hirosaki's select shop "IVY" (Ekimaecho, Hirosaki City, TEL 0172-33-6543) celebrated its 40th anniversary on March 20th.

The store is located on the first floor of the complex "Hiroro", which handles 20 brands from Japan and overseas. The second president, Orie Kushibiki, and his younger brother, Shingo Nagauchi, are the owners of the adjacent "Margaret Howell" FC store. It was opened on March 20, 1980. At the fashion building "Hi Rosa," which opened in Dote-cho, his sister-in-law, Masaru Nagauchi and his mother, Nahoko, started it.

“I was chilled by rootless grasses and migratory birds. Forty years were not going well,” says Katsu. After graduating from high school, Katsu joined "Nakanishi Department Store" and changed jobs to "Men's Senka Shimizu". Experienced store managers such as "Mister Shop" in front of Hirosaki Station. He became independent at the age of 29 and opened a high Rosa store. The name of the store comes from the long-awaited fashion of the 1960s, "Ivy Look".

According to Mr. Katsu, after the opening of Hi Rosa, the management deteriorated once and the whole building was renewed four years later. Mr. Katsu had a brand composition that made use of his experience at Shimizu, but he said he was interested in British fashion when he would not be able to get away with customers if he did not cultivate a new brand.

"I abandoned the idea of America when it comes to fashion," says Katsu. Started trading with "Avon House (then Chantal Dumo"), which was famous for British fashion. "I was able to move to Tokyo from the countryside without an appointment and set up negotiations. It's unthinkable now, but at that time I had a family and I couldn't go back," he recalls.

By the time the High Rosa closed in 1998 (Heisei 10), we moved inside the building and opened a second store for women. After the store closed, it moved to Renes Avenue (now Renesse Alley), moved to Shimodate Town in 2002 (Heisei 14), and reached Hiroro in 2013 (Heisei 25).

Mr. Katsu said, "Hi Rosa is like Shibuya's "109" made in Hirosaki. It was epoch-making, and there were also visitors from Sendai. The words "banker bra" to shop in a fashionable bank town were born. It was a symbol of admiration," he said. Mr. Kushibiki recalls, "Shopping at Hi Rosa is a kind of status. If there was a party, I was envious of my parents going out in nice costumes."

After graduating from high school, Mr. Kushibiki quit his job at Hirosaki for three years as a company employee. He said that he gradually began to work because he was asked to help with "IVY" to expand the store. "At first, none was interesting. Because I couldn't sell it, I started selling it little by little, and I enjoyed working with customers saying, "I want to buy from you."

Mr. Kushibiki then gave birth and experienced raising children. Although he is away from work, his brother Shingo joins the company to fill the hole. "There are still some employees who have continued to work since the High Rosa era, and there are regular customers from that era," Kushibiki said. “It's been amazing that it lasted for 40 years. It was because of the support and trust of our customers,” he said.

The 40th anniversary event was held from March 19th to 23rd. Mr. Kushibiki said, "Some of my regular customers knew me when I was little, and some of them came back to me, saying, "It's been 40 years," "It was so small," I show a smile."

Katsu retired from the president in March and became an advisor. “I was thinking about breaks at the milestone of 40 years,” says Katsu. Mr. Kushibiki became the president of IVY. Mr. Kushibiki said, “Actually, I gave my grandmother a bouquet of gratitude. It was my grandmother who supported my double-income family. Forgetting that we have this kind of support in the background that has continued for 40 years. Instead, I want to protect the store."