It used to be that Japanese consumers tended not to spend a great deal on their homes. Over the last decade or so, however, that has changed, and firms like Bals Corporation have proved extremely successful at selling the notion of home improvement to Japan.

The publicly traded firm is behind the Franc franc brand and operates over 90 stores, including two in Hong Kong, and is heralded as a model business in the Japanese retail industry.

Bals Corporation's latest venture is Bals Tokyo, a lifestyle brand with the mission of "Proposing a Stylish Life for the Upper-middle Class."

The brand was launched last weekend with the unveiling of Bals Store, a 2,765-sq.-meter shopping complex in the uber-hip district of Naka-Meguro. Although the Bals Tokyo brand occupies the lion's share of the floor space, Bals has co-opted a handful of innovative companies to fill out the space and round out the lifestyle shopping experience.

Greeting customers just inside the entrance is Lettre D'Amour, a patisserie specializing in chocolate and cheese confections, which also offers a wide selection of baked goods, jams and herb teas, all of which can be sampled at the small cafe adjoining their space. Just to the left of the entrance is Amadana, a maker of minimalist-looking gadgets with an organic twist, typified by the portable DVD player with a bamboo top and a compact microwave oven with an oak door handle. This space boasts an attractive selection of compact gizmos, like a personal shredder, air purifier and universal remote control, which are so stylish it is easy to become convinced that they are essential purchases.

Around the corner from Amadana is F by Design F + C, a canine grooming salon that offers aromatherapy massages to dog owners waiting for their pet pooches to be trimmed. The spectacularly coiffured canines are on full view through glass windows and attract a steady stream of bemused onlookers. Other partners with corners on the first floor are Concierge Lavie, which offers a variety of health and beauty supplements, as well as an "aroma oxygen bar" at which customers inhale scented oxygen through a face mask; Haeka Aveda, a hair salon that is the latest addition to the Estee Lauder-owned environmentally conscious hair and body care empire; and Hervz Gambs, a Paris-based maker of artificial flowers.

The Bals Tokyo presence on the first floor consists of a modest selection of indoor plants and a large lineup of goods for the kitchen and dining table, including dishware, Riedel crystal, kitchen utensils from Italy and appliances from Russell Hobbs, Rowenta and Cuisanart, as well as original Bals Tokyo-branded bathrobes and candles.

While the lower level feels a little cramped, the second floor of Bals Store is far more spacious, and its fusion of contemporary and Asian aesthetics has plenty of impact. The highlights among the hard furnishings here are the fruits of Bals' collaboration with award-winning Italian designer Carlo Colombo.

His minimalist vases (from 18,900 yen) and furniture (coffee table 63,000, yen two-seater sofa 231,000 yen) could happily sit alongside creations from Zanotta or Minotti. Collaborations with other top-name designers are slated for the near future as Bals Tokyo aims to build a catalog of high-end designer furniture available at a universally affordable price.

The soft furnishings -- carpets, curtains and upholstery -- are distinctive and display considerable originality. They are also very attractively priced, with cushion covers in richly textured fabrics like boucle and toile priced at under 20,000 yen and 2-sq.-meter carpets in unconventional finishes retailing for around 60,000 yen.

The collaborators installed on the second floor are Graniph, a graphic T-shirt maker, and Bicicletta Tokyo by Nukaya, which is a smart little store catering to the style-conscious cyclist with sporty makes like Cannondale and Bianchi on sale alongside foldable numbers from the likes of Dahon. Also of note on the second floor is office supplies boutique Denz and Unwrap, a 224-sq.-meter exhibition space. Currently on show at Unwrap are images from the Bals Tokyo launch campaign, shot by photographer Roland Kirishima; and next up is an event that will be part of the Tokyo Designers Week design festival, which will showcase various design pitches that Bals rejected but the creative team thinks the public should see. Bals Tokyo stores are slated to open in Nagoya on Oct. 20, and in Osaka and Fukuoka in 2006.

The Tokyo store offers an impressive shopping experience, and with one of the most sophisticated logistical and manufacturing machines in the world whirring like clockwork behind the scenes of this ambitious project, it seems certain to meet with success.