High-End Store Specializes in 1950s-Style Jeans

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, let's talk about a high-end denim store half a world away from North Carolina in Kobe, Japan. The store is called The Real McCoy, which is our last word in business today.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The owner tells The Wall Street Journal he fell in love with blue jeans while traveling the U.S. in his youth. He calls them, quote, "the garment that conquered the world."

INSKEEP: And also, his imagination. His store specializes in simple 1950s-style jeans with, of course, some alterations. And because he's tapping into a Japanese subculture obsessed by 1950s Americana, he is able to charge prices that are not from the '50s at all.

MONTAGNE: Three-hundred-and-fifty bucks a pair.

And that's the business news on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

INSKEEP: And I'm Steve Inskeep. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.