MD Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Hiroto Ito, hereinafter referred to as MD) has begun providing its AI site selection tool 'gleasin' to L-MARK Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Neyagawa City, Osaka Prefecture, Representative Director: Yoshihiko Iketani, hereinafter referred to as 'L-MARK'), which operates the men's specialty hair salon 'L-MARK'.

About L-MARK Co., Ltd.

L-MARK Co., Ltd. was established in September 2020, and the men's specialty salon 'L-MARK' opened in Neyagawa City, Osaka Prefecture in October 2022.

With the philosophy of "A hair salon for men that they can go to without hesitation, nationwide," they are promoting the creation of salons where customers, especially first-timers, can feel at ease and find their ideal 'suitable hairstyle,' focusing on men's cuts, perms, and coloring.

Through a unique academy system, they have built an educational structure that allows stylists to debut after just three months of intensive training. Furthermore, they are working to create an environment where beauticians can grow with peace of mind, such as by providing full-time salaries even during the training period.

Leveraging these educational systems and customer acquisition know-how, they are developing human resources capable of providing high-quality services while also promoting franchise expansion in addition to directly managed stores.

In 2023, they opened stores in Umeda and Shinsaibashi, and in 2024, they opened stores in Hirakata and Kyobashi, also launching franchise expansion.

In July 2025, they will open their first Tokyo store in Shibuya. They are accelerating their expansion strategy nationwide, utilizing the store opening know-how cultivated in the Kansai region.

https://l-mark-hair.info/

Background of Implementation

With the desire to create "a hair salon for men that they can go to without hesitation, nationwide," L-MARK has been promoting multi-store expansion nationwide, utilizing the store opening know-how cultivated in the Osaka and Kansai areas and their unique educational system.

In particular, a major feature supporting the company's growth is their academy system, which allows stylists to debut after just three months of intensive training, thereby ensuring service quality while training the personnel needed for store openings.

As they plan to further expand franchise operations in addition to directly managed stores and consider openings in areas desired by owners, enhancing the 'reproducibility' and 'explainability' of site selection decisions has become an important theme.

In past site selection decisions, candidate locations were considered based on the experience of the representative and store development staff, local intuition, property information, and customer acquisition results. However, as the expansion area widens, more objective grounds are required for decisions in areas unfamiliar to them, for comparisons between candidate locations, and for explanations to franchisees.

Furthermore, good properties can be lost while hesitating. Therefore, it was also important to create a state where quick decisions can be made when property information becomes available by organizing the marketability, competitive environment, recruitment environment, and similarity to existing stores for each candidate location in advance.

Specifically, L-MARK aims not just to increase the number of stores, but to expand nationwide an environment where young men can choose a hair salon that suits them without hesitation. To achieve this, it is important to identify commercial areas where young men, students, and those whose awareness of beauty is beginning to rise gather, and where it is easy for first-timers to enter, rather than simply choosing stations with large populations.

Expected benefits from implementing gleasin

By organizing this information with data and verifying candidate areas in conjunction with the success trends of existing stores, gleasin will be utilized to support both the speed of store openings and the accuracy of decisions, in order to realize L-MARK's aspiration of "a hair salon for men that they can go to without hesitation, nationwide."

Expected benefits from implementing gleasin:

- Explore Tokyo areas similar in commercial environment to existing successful stores in Osaka. - Build L-MARK's winning strategy and establish a foundation for nationwide expansion. - Improve the accuracy of site selection decisions by comparing two candidate locations with data. - Propose profitable site selection candidates based on data to FC owners.

Comment from Yoshihiko Iketani, Representative Director of L-MARK Co., Ltd.

https://x.com/lmark_iketani

We at L-MARK have been developing men's specialty hair salons with the aspiration of "a hair salon for men that they can go to without hesitation, nationwide." Our envisioned future is to create places nationwide where men can find hairstyles that suit them and gain confidence.

We want to deliver the value of L-MARK, cultivated in the Osaka and Kansai areas, to more customers in Tokyo. Tokyo currently has 5 stores, and we are in the stage of full-scale expansion. Therefore, in aiming for 50 stores, we felt the need to make decisions about which towns to open in based not only on intuition but also on data.

By utilizing gleasin, we can objectively confirm the characteristics of candidate areas and the competitive environment while organizing the success factors of our existing stores. This will allow us to proceed with site selection decisions in a way that is convincing to our internal staff and franchisees, and to expand more reliably into regions that need L-MARK.

Comment from Ken Tajima, Executive Officer, General Manager of Business Strategy Division, CMO, MD Co., Ltd.

X: https://x.com/tajima_men

We are engaged in our business with the desire to fully support challenger brands in Japan. L-MARK is a brand that directly addresses industry challenges such as men struggling to choose a hair salon and creating an environment where beauticians can grow.

As L-MARK, a brand originating from Osaka that has grown in the Kansai region, aims to expand from 5 stores to a 50-store system in the Tokyo area, 'how to compete in new commercial areas,' 'can the winning strategy in Osaka be replicated,' and 'how to perceive the impact of competitor stores' are important decision-making factors. Through the AI site selection tool gleasin, we will support the improvement of reproducibility and speed in site selection decisions by organizing the strengths of L-MARK's existing stores with data and assisting in the comparison of candidate areas and explanations to internal staff and franchisees.

About AI Site Selection Tool "gleasin"

'gleasin' is an AI site selection tool provided by MD.

With an AI x consulting approach, it verbalizes the brand's winning strategy and conducts pre-opening sales forecasts. It consistently supports improving the speed of store openings, increasing success rates, and building a system for successful store openings.

By organizing information necessary for site selection decisions as data, such as visualizing areas where target customers are concentrated, discovering competitor gaps, providing AI explanations for site selection areas, and AI sales forecasts before opening, it supports the transition from 'experience and intuition' to 'AI-driven site selection strategy based on data and evidence.' It is being adopted by companies aiming to improve the speed and success rate of store openings.

Service Site: https://www.gleasin.jp/

Company Overview of L-MARK Co., Ltd.

Company Name

L-MARK Co., Ltd.

Location

Chiyoda Building 3F, 23-12 Hayako-cho, Neyagawa City, Osaka Prefecture

Representative Director

Yoshihiko Iketani

Founded

September 2020

Business Activities

Beauty Industry

Official Website

https://l-mark-hair.info/

Company Overview of MD Co., Ltd.

Company Name

MD Co., Ltd.

Representative

President and CEO Hiroto Ito

Head Office Location

17F, Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower, 1-3-1 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0041

Established

October 1, 2018 (Founded: 2003)

Business Activities

Clinic Opening and Management ConsultingMedical Mall Development and OperationSuccession and M&A ConsultingLocation Strategy ConsultingAI Solution and Product DevelopmentSaaS Product Planning, Development, Operation, and Sales

MD Co., Ltd.

https://emdi.co.jp/

Commercial Area Analysis Tool "gleasin"

https://www.gleasin.jp/

Contact Information for this Matter

MD Co., Ltd. Public Relations

info@emdi.co.jp / TEL: 03-5544-8711

FACT BOX

  • Source: PR TIMES
  • Category: ビジネス
  • Organizations: gleasin