Case Study: Cath Kidston achieves simultaneous overnight IT refurbishment of 28 Japan stores with NTT Communications

Local knowledge, global expertise — NTT Communications helps Cath Kidston refurbish IT core in 28 stores in Japan

Cath Kidston, an international retail chain known for its modern-vintage homewares and fashion, needed to refurbish ICT equipment across 28 Japanese stores on a fixed go-live date of 1 September 2015. With only four months to complete the rollout, stores could not be closed during the day, and the company required a provider with UK–Japan presence to manage diverse mall security rules, vendor coordination and data connectivity to headquarters.

NTT Communications used its global network and local Japanese expertise to install POS, PCs, switches, printers, phones and routers simultaneously overnight, connecting stores via Arcstar Universal One VPN and storing sales data in Enterprise Cloud. NTT managed local vendors, provided a bilingual Tokyo helpdesk as a single point of contact, and implemented workarounds (including mobile backups) to meet the deadline—avoiding store closures, ensuring go‑live on schedule, and delivering 24/7 support.

Cath Kidston

Karl de Bruijn

IT Director