Strip merchants learn how to serve Japanese tourists

Thursday, March 22, 2001 | 11:59 a.m.

Professor Andy Nazarechuk's guide to Japanese retail service

* Smile -- A smile is an international symbol of friendliness.

* Hello -- It's OK to say "hello" in English.

* Packaging -- For designer items, place them in quality logo bags with handles. Other purchases can be put in plastic bags.

* Change -- Give change back on a tray.

* Receipt -- Hand to shopper, do not put in a bag.

* Posture -- Avoid standing with hands in pockets or pointing at people, which is viewed as rude.

The average shopper probably would think nothing of accepting a red pen from a mall merchant to sign a credit card slip.

But to a Japanese tourist, a red pen may have a cultural significance that may discourage future visits by that shopper to the store.

"A red pen doesn't mean anything to us," said Andy Nazarechuk, a professor of international travel and tourism at UNLV. "But to a Japanese shopper, it's an unlucky symbol. It goes back to the samurais signing their names in blood before their deaths.

"It's just a little thing to you and me, but if you understand what it might mean to a foreign visitor, you can adjust and your service level improves," Nazarechuk said.

Nazarechuk presented a series of cultural behavior seminars for the merchants of the Forum Shops at Caesars Wednesday. About 60 people attended the free one-hour classes in which the UNLV expert discussed how Japanese culture pertained to interaction in retail and dining settings.

Nazarechuk's appearance was sponsored by Showbiz Japan magazine. Showbiz Japan, a monthly Japanese version of the entertainment weekly publication Showbiz magazine, has a circulation of 30,000 and is published by the Greenspun Media Group. It is owned by the Greenspun family, which also owns the Las Vegas Sun.

Showbiz, which has a circulation of 144,500 copies per week, plans to sponsor other appearances by Nazarechuk at other shopping malls later this year, said Leah Koza-Rosselli, who coordinated the event.

Nazarechuk, who has taught for 10 years, became interested in the treatment of foreign visitors after he traveled overseas and discovered how well he was treated in some countries by their residents.

"I was a typical American abroad," he said, "so I started to study, observe and ask questions. I got interested in the different cultures and how people interact in Las Vegas."

Nazarechuk said there even are some examples of how culture from abroad has changed the local landscape. The biggest example is the redesign of the lion at the MGM Grand. In the old structure, guests entered the hotel-casino through the lion's mouth -- an omen of bad luck in some Asian cultures.

Down the Strip at Mandalay Bay, the property is adorned with statues of griffins, which are mythologically stronger and more powerful than the lion, he said.

Other properties are using more water features in their buildings for the calming effect they have, especially in some foreign cultures.

Tourists from Japan are an important segment of the Las Vegas economy. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said 11 percent of the city's visitors are from other countries and Japan is the top overseas market for the city. The LVCVA estimated that 478,000 Japanese visited Las Vegas in 1999, the most current year for which the agency has statistics.

It was that year that Japan Airlines and Northwest Airlines reached their highest levels of nonstop flights between Tokyo and Las Vegas, seven a week. Northwest plans to eliminate the route and its two flights a week next month and JAL has said that it would maintain its current level through 2001.

The LVCVA says Asian visitors account for 20 percent of table game revenue and Strip hotel-casinos and 80 percent of the revenue generated by high-stakes games like baccarat. But Nazarechuk said Asians also spend 25 percent of their time shopping.

Richard Ho, marketing and reservation manager of the Japan Travel Bureau in Las Vegas, said a small increase in the number of Japanese tourists is expected this year. He said Las Vegas would be far more attractive to the Japanese if more people spoke their language. He estimated that there are about 2,000 residents of Las Vegas who speak Japanese fluently.

Nazarechuk concurred that knowing the language -- or at least trying to communicate in it -- can go a long way toward building rapport with mall shoppers.

Nazarechuk said even if employees don't know a visitor's language, they can break down some cultural barriers by merely attempting to talk to them in their native tongue.

"They really appreciate it when you at least try to talk to them in their language," Nazarechuk said. "A good sales person will practice a few phrases to make their Japanese guests feel more comfortable, and they'll be very, very happy and possibly return to the store."

But sometimes the nonverbal communication is just as important.

Nazarechuk said Japanese shoppers expect their purchases to be wrapped -- it's a common practice in their home country. He said shoppers also expect their gifts wrapped and they should be in paper with pastel colors -- black and white are considered funeral colors.

And it's best to go with "small, medium and large" on clothing sizes since a Size 9 in Japan is about the same as a Size 1 in the United States.

"I came because I think this will make me a better retailer," said Donna Underwood of the Forum Shops' Discovery Channel Store after one of the seminars. "I feel that I can be a little more polite with Japanese visitors knowing about some of the things they like and don't like."

Maureen Taylor Crampton, marketing director of the Forum Shops, said the cultural seminars were planned to help merchants increase sales.

"The more you communicate, the better your sales potential," Crampton said. "The first step is developing an awareness (of cultural differences) and to educate ourselves about different nationalities. I don't think Las Vegas has necessarily done a poor job of accommodating people from other countries, but we have to be keenly aware that 80 percent of our customer base is tourists and a large portion of those are international customers."

Crampton said it was the third time a UNLV expert has offered instruction on Japanese culture at the Forum Shops. About 200 merchants have attended previous classes.

She said a recent seminar was so successful that one store, Niketown, arranged its own seminar just for its employees.

Crampton said the value of being culturally aware was exemplified for Forum Shops merchants recently when Raisa Gorbachev, wife of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, paid a visit to the mall.

In her search for a pair of shoes, Mrs. Gorbachev was led through the shops by a waitress from Chinois, who not only spoke Russian, but understood Russian culture, thereby avoiding embarrassing gaffes.

"The Japanese love to shop here," Nazarechuk said, "because, to them, everything is on sale. Just about everything costs a lot less here than it does in Japan."

But as far as properly catering to the Japanese, Nazarechuk said Las Vegas has a long way to go.

"We treat their high-rollers very well because the resorts hire people who speak their language to talk with them," he said. "But generally, our language skills are lacking and the hiring of multilingual employees is not as good as it could be. Some hotels have some printed material in a variety of languages, but rarely to they have enough people who speak those languages."

archive