IZUMISANO, Osaka Pref. -- With nearly half of the land yet awaiting a buyer, a 318-hectare plot known as Rinku Town just across the bay from Kansai International Airport can hardly be called a bustling shopping district.

But Chelsea GCA Realty, Inc., a giant American shopping mall developer that runs and owns 21 Premium Outlets shopping malls across the United States, chose Rinku Town for the location of its second outlet mall in Japan, which opened Thursday.

Leslie Chao, chairman of Chelsea Japan Co. Ltd., which operates Rinku Premium Outlets, said its Kansai mall is unique compared with other outlet malls in the region because for about a third of its 72 tenants, it is their first time to operate as an outlet in Japan. Seventy percent are newcomers to the Kansai region.

Takuo Kato, president of Chelsea Japan, said he is confident of Rinku Premium Outlets' success after seeing the popularity of Gotemba Premium Outlets, the firm's first mall in Japan, which opened in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in July.

Although Chelsea Japan had initially expected 2 million customers at Gotemba in the first year, that target was easily reached after two months, and the initial annual sales estimate of 15 billion yen is now expected to be greatly surpassed, Kato said.

As for the reasons for choosing Rinku Town, Kato pointed to market research showing that some 87 percent of women in their 20s and 30s who live within two-hours' traveling distance from the area said they would go shopping at Rinku Town if a Premium Outlets mall opened there.

He said Rinku Premium Outlets fit the firm's criteria for choosing an outlet mall location -- it was some distance away from a city center and yet easily accessible by cars and public transport.

Indeed, Rinku Premium Outlets is a five-minute drive from exits on the Hanshin Wangan Expressway and Kansai-kuko Expressway, and a roughly five-minute walk from Rinku Town Station on the JR Hanwa Line and Nankai Electric Railways.

Although it takes about 40 minutes by train from the busy Namba district in the city of Osaka to get to Rinku Town Station, Kato said that for outlets, the primary commercial zone is an area within a radius of 90 minutes' traveling distance.

In addition, there are some 20 million domestic and international passengers who use Kansai International Airport annually, said Tetsuo Yagi, general manager of Rinku Premium Outlets.

"Rinku's big difference from the Gotemba outlets is that it can attract people from other parts of the country and the world," he said. "There is already a tour package from Hokkaido that will include a stop at our outlets as well as a visit to Kyoto in winter and Kobe's Luminarie illumination event at Christmas time."

Kenjiro Yoshino, chairman of the Izumisano Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that although the opening of the outlet mall was good news to the city of Izumisano as a whole, owners of small local shops fear their businesses may be hit by the new shops.

"We have a lot of clothing shops here that are not very sophisticated, so we seriously need to think how we can attract younger customers from other parts of the prefecture," said Yoshino, who runs seven eyewear shops in the area.

Chelsea Japan President Kato estimates that 3 million customers will visit Rinku Premium Outlets in the first year, of which about 10 percent would be from overseas. The firm is targeting 15 billion yen in sales for the first year.

Yoshino of the local chamber of commerce acknowledged that the figures put forward by Chelsea Japan may well be achievable, because the area is also a popular destination for shoppers from neighboring Wakayama Prefecture.

"About 20 percent of customers to a big shopping center opened in the south of the city are from Wakayama. They would be willing to come to Rinku Town."