"Doki Doki" concept store opens in the KOMM-Center Offenbach
11.03.2024 – Inspiring workshops, delicious treats and cosplay accessories: a new store opened in the KOMM-Center in Offenbach on March 8, 2024. The "Doki Doki" store is set to become a meeting place for anyone who wants to get to know Japanese culture better or already appreciates it. Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke opened the store, which is part of the "Test Space Avenue" of the future concept for the city center, with a speech.
The future-oriented "Testraum-Allee" project focuses on the establishment of long-term, high-quality retail, gastronomy and service offerings in the city center. Following the successful launch of the "OFTEN", a mini department store that presented high-quality design products and international culinary delights for four days at the end of 2023, the city of Offenbach is now supporting the "Doki Doki" store as part of the future project.
Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke is delighted about the close cooperation with the people behind the new concept store, who are also responsible for the large Japanese MainMatsuri festival in Büsingpark:
"Today's city centers have to stand up to competition from the internet and offer more than just a range of goods. We are therefore delighted with the creative and unique concept from the Main Matsuri makers and are optimistic that Doki Doki with its hybrid concept will attract curious customers and thus offer people more reasons to visit Offenbach's city center. This is precisely why we, as the City of Offenbach, are supporting the concept as part of Testraum-Allee. Together with the Doki Doki team, we would like to test the concept, learn and examine whether and, if so, how Doki Doki can be made permanent in Offenbach's city center in the long term."
New impetus for the city center through the future project "Testraum-Allee"
The Testraum-Allee project is working on the gradual conversion of inner-city vacancies into viable retail space. "The core of Testraum-Allee is a strategic and progressive allocation of space with the aim of providing impetus for an attractive city center from which businesses, owners and citizens alike will benefit," says Lord Mayor Schwenke.
200,000 will be available in the budget over the next two years to finance the "Test Space Avenue". The City of Offenbach's Agentur Mitte is working closely with the Offenbach Offensiv e.V. association.
The idea behind the "Testraum-Allee" concept is also to network people in order to try out new ideas. The opening of Doki Doki, initiated by Norman Seidel, is also based on this idea: on the opening evening of the OFTEN in December 2023, Seidel made contact with the management of the KOMM-Center and exchanged ideas and thoughts. This exchange led to the creation of Doki Doki at the KOMM-Center. "When I walked into the OFTEN, I realized that we had to try out the Main Matsuri festival for Japanese culture as a retail concept. The fact that I was able to sketch out my idea for the concept store there was not just a stroke of luck, but the vision that something like this is possible in Offenbach's city center," says Norman Seidel, initiator of the project and Managing Director of Main Matsuri, whose patron is Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke.
Another piece of Japan comes to Offenbach
Doki Doki means heartbeat in Japanese, and it is precisely this heartbeat for Japanese culture in all its facets that drives the store's team. Norman Seidel explains: "We want to introduce our customers to the fascinating world of Japanese culture. In doing so, we focus on special promotions." The range on sale includes both classic kimonos and Japanese fashion from labels such as Yakitori Fashion. Cosplay fans will get their money's worth with the high-quality costumes from mycostumes or scene magazines such as Koneko and Cohaku.
The Japanese concept store fits in well in Offenbach, as the city of Offenbach has long been an attractive business location for Japanese companies: the city of Offenbach has maintained a close city partnership with Kawagoe for over 40 years and has long-standing relationships with four well-known Japanese companies based in Offenbach am Main. This year, the Main Matsuri Festival will once again transform Büsingpark into a Japanese summer festival. Last year, the festival attracted over 22,000 visitors to the city. Incidentally, April in Offenbach will be all about the Japanese cherry blossom, when Cherry Blossom Day is celebrated again on April 13, heralding the festive arrival of spring.
Further cooperation with companies in Offenbach
The Doki Doki concept combines retail, events and a Japanese café corner to create an interactive experience that brings both traditional Japanese values and the modern Japanese way of life closer to a wide audience. A central element of the concept are changing workshops and events with artists who not only present their works, but also offer portrait drawings and workshops on site, thus going beyond a traditional sales concept.
The Doki Doki team works closely with Offenbach companies: In cooperation with the Offenbach printing manufactory "Hochdruckzone", there will be a limited edition card for the Year of the Dragon with Rena Kato. Further collaborations with various companies in Offenbach are planned in order to create synergies. One example of this is the collaboration with the Thalia bookstore, which already operates a manga store in the KOMM-Center and cooperates with Doki Doki. Customers who buy a manga in the Thalia bookshop will receive a keyring from the Doki Doki store as a gift.
