OUR STORY
Why we sell peace of mind, not just clothes
三恵（SANKEI）三軒茶屋店
The physical store of Setagaya Kaigo.
Setagaya Kaigo is a shop that sells care clothing: tops, trousers, underwear, pajamas, socks and more.
But what we truly want to deliver is not just clothing.
"If I choose this, it will be all right."
We want to deliver that kind of peace of mind.
Behind this belief are more than 70 years of serving customers in Sangenjaya, and one customer we will never forget.
1953
SANKEI Co., Ltd. started in 1953 in Sangenjaya, Tokyo, as a direct sales shop for an underwear factory.
We sold cotton underwear of the same quality supplied to department stores. Selling directly from the factory kept distribution costs down for the local community.
"Good underwear, as affordable as possible."
As we kept the shop going, customers began telling us what else they wanted.
Then let's stock what our customers need. With that in mind, we gradually expanded our range.
From underwear to socks. Then clothes, hats, towels and shoes. Before we knew it, we had become a shop with all kinds of everyday clothing and accessories.
Looking back, our shop has always changed little by little by listening to customers. A wide range, and helping customers find what they were looking for — that, we believed, was how to be useful.
2014
Over time, more customers came looking for care clothing.
Many older customers had shopped with us for years, so we already had plenty of clothing suited to care. We'd listen, suggest "How about this one?", and look for clothes together. Customers left happy, and we believed we were being helpful.
Then, around 2014, something happened that showed us this wasn't enough. We still cannot forget it.
A man in his fifties came in, probably on his way home from work, in a suit.
His mother was moving into a care facility, and he needed a full set of underwear and clothing. Her favorite colors. The size she usually wore. The materials she liked. We asked about each one and chose clothes together.
When everything was ready, he said, "This should be fine," and left looking relieved. We thought we had done our job well.
A few days later, the man came back. Unlike before, his face was clouded.
"The facility told me none of it could be used."
She needed a larger size. Her underwear had to open at the front, not go on over the head.
We had asked about her preferences, size and materials, and explained the clothing carefully. We believed we had served him with care. And yet, we had not really helped him.
Origin
Why didn't it work? When we thought about it, what we had asked was not enough.
Even for the same request — "I'm looking for size M underwear" — the right choice changes with the person's life, physical condition and the way they are helped.
Stocking lots of clothes and choosing hard was not enough. We needed to understand what the customer was struggling with, how they live and what they want, and then think it through together. For that, we ourselves needed knowledge about care, the body and clothing.
At the time, we couldn't put it into words as neatly as this. What remained was frustration — "we could have done more" — and a sense of having let the customer down. That experience led to a few words written in a notebook.
Sell peace of mind, not products!
Looking at it now, it is just one hastily written line. But "sell peace of mind, not products" became the starting point for how we built our shop.
Not just selling clothes, but delivering the peace of mind beyond them. That belief has not changed.
Store to online
First, we needed to know much more about care clothing ourselves. Besides studying clothing, we held mobile sales at nearby care facilities.
Little by little, we learned what we couldn't see from behind the counter, and brought it back to our sales floor.
Instead of simply lining up "clothing that's easy for care," we tried to explain clearly who each item suits and what difficulty it helps with. We built our sales floor that way, step by step.
Photos from that time show a floor crowded with clothing and POP signs. But every sign carried our wish to explain, as clearly as possible, what is convenient about the item and who finds it easy to use.
Repeating this, an idea took shape: could we do what we do on this sales floor on the internet as well?
We wanted to share clothing features and how to choose with people who have no care clothing shop nearby, and give a clue to anyone wondering "which one suits me?" when looking for care clothing for the first time. Delivering online what we had told each customer in our store — that led to the Setagaya Kaigo online shop.
For us, Setagaya Kaigo is not a shop that was born only on the internet.
It began as an effort to deliver online what we had learned and tried while serving customers at our store in Sangenjaya.
SANKEI Sangenjaya Store
Our physical store since 1953. See, touch and get advice before you choose.
Setagaya Kaigo
Our care clothing service and online shop, sharing what we learned in store.
SANKEI Sangenjaya Store is the physical store of Setagaya Kaigo. The same staff, with the same beliefs, take your questions both in store and online.
2024
Then, in 2024, moving our store became another major turning point.
If we were building a new store, we wanted it to be more than neatly displayed clothing: a place where people could ask for advice with confidence when they need care clothing.
From stocking lots of clothing, to thinking together about what suits each person. One step toward that was hiring physical and occupational therapists.
But we are not a hospital or a care facility. We are a retailer. At first, we didn't even know how to hire therapists.
We found a job site for medical professionals and contacted them. The operator asked, "Are you a hospital? A rehabilitation center? A care facility?" When we answered, "No, a retail shop," they said, "There's no precedent, so we may not be able to post it."
Still, if we handle care clothing, having people with specialist knowledge of the body would surely give customers peace of mind. So we went ahead with hiring.
Today, physical and occupational therapists work in our store as Setagaya Kaigo sales staff. They also work in hospitals, care facilities and other settings. Beyond their specialist knowledge, we learn from them every day about what actually happens in care and rehabilitation.
Sales floor
Care clothing often looks alike at first glance. Even front-opening underwear comes with large buttons, diagonal buttonholes, snap buttons or hook-and-loop fasteners. Each has its own features, and which is easiest depends on the person's body and how they get dressed.
So our occupational therapist takes part in designing our sales floor. Rather than simply listing functions, we explain features from viewpoints like:
We try to make each item's features as easy to understand as possible.
Our aim is not to line up technical terms, but to answer the customer's question — "Which one should I choose in my case?" — as clearly as we can.
And if signs and descriptions aren't enough, please ask us directly. The person's physical condition. Their daily life. Whether they dress themselves or are helped. Whether the clothes are for a facility or for home. Listening and thinking together is part of our job too.
What we learned from helping one customer has gradually shaped our sales floor and the way we serve people today.
Ahead
Today, Setagaya Kaigo takes questions about care clothing not only in store but also on LINE. And we don't think of each consultation as ending there.
What troubles one customer may be troubling someone else. So we use what we learn from consultations to develop and improve our clothing, and sometimes share it in articles on choosing care clothing.
Recently, we have been attending academic conferences on dementia and care training, learning beyond clothing. We don't know everything about care. That's exactly why we want to keep learning.
Learning from customers, from professionals and care settings, and on our own — then returning that knowledge to the next consultation and to how we make clothes. We value repeating this cycle.
Peace of mind
Setagaya Kaigo offers all kinds of care clothing — tops, trousers, underwear, pajamas, socks and more. But what we truly want to offer is not only clothes.
When care begins. When a family member moves into a facility. When their body changes and the clothes they used to wear become hard to put on. With everything new, some people worry alone:
At those times, we want to be the place you think of: "Let's ask Setagaya Kaigo."
Sorting out what you don't know, together. Listening to the person's life and physical condition. Borrowing professional knowledge when needed. And thinking together about clothes that suit them.
We want to reduce "I bought it, but it couldn't be used" to zero.
We also want to shorten the time spent worrying alone about what to choose, so that time can go to happy, warm moments with your loved ones.
"Sell peace of mind, not products" — words written after we couldn't fully help one customer. Since then, we have kept working at it in our own way. Of course, there is still much more we can do.
We will keep listening to customers, learning from professionals and care settings, improving our products and services, and learning ourselves.
Today, both in store and online, we want to be a place where you can ask about care clothing with confidence. Because our shop began by listening to customers, that attitude will not change.
When you're troubled about care clothing, you don't have to worry alone.
Being that kind of shop — that is why we continue Setagaya Kaigo.
Please feel free to ask us. We'll listen and think together about clothing that suits the person.