RKF wants to be big in Japan

Midtown-based retail brokerage opens Tokyo office

RKF is opening its first overseas office in Tokyo to help bring in Japanese business, the Midtown-based retail brokerage announced Tuesday.

The firm hired local leasing veteran Kaishu Okada to head the office as vice president.

“With Okada’s extensive experience and deep knowledge of the business environment and government regulations in Japan, he will help us orchestrate and drive Japanese-based retail expansion in the U.S., creating valuable opportunities for many of Japan’s leading retail and restaurant brands,” RKF CEO Robert Futterman said in a statement.

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RKF [TRDataCustom] has worked with Japanese brands in the U.S. before, representing Round One Entertainment, Gameworks and Marukai Corporation. Japanese companies like Uniqlo and Sony have long had a prominent presence in New York’s retail market.

RKF, which focuses heavily on New York’s market, also has offices in several U.S. cities and in Canada. In this month’s TRD ranking of top Manhattan retail brokerages, RKF came in third with 798,493 square feet of leases brokered over the past year. Its biggest rivals, the real estate behemoths CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield, operate offices around the globe.