* President: Not interested in a tie-up with rivals
* President: Stronger sales could lead to earnings revision (Adds details, quotes)
By James Topham and Ritsuko Shimizu
TOKYO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Matsuya Co Ltd is not interested in merging with a rival and will instead focus on attracting well-heeled shoppers to its upscale Tokyo department store, its top executive said.
Department stores no longer dominate Japan's retail market amid changing shopping habits that include buying online and at discount chains, pushing the $78 billion industry into a wave of mergers and alliances over the past few years.
For Matsuya, which runs the top-selling department store in the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, a new threat is coming as rival Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd renovates a major outlet a stone's throw away.
But Matsuya President Masaki Akita says he is not interested in joining hands with a rival, despite speculation it could become a takeover target.
"None of those offers have come to me and I haven't been considering anything like that," Akita told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
A growing Tokyo population and increase in Chinese shoppers has helped Matsuya and other Ginza retailers avoid much of the decline faced by the rest of the industry, Akita said.
Last month, Japan relaxed visa requirements for Chinese tourists in hopes of enticing more travellers to visit and to cash in on its neighbour's newly found spending clout and hunger for electronics, cosmetics and luxury goods.
Overseas visitors, especially Chinese, are being increasingly targeted by retailers in a bid to offset slumping sales in Japan as a shrinking population and slowing wage growth have depressed consumer spending.
Since peaking at 9.7 trillion yen in 1991, Japan's department store sales have declined steadily to 6.6 trillion yen last year, reflecting customer flight to clothing chains like budget fashion retailers Uniqlo and Shimamura.
The trend is also being seen in Ginza, with fast fashion brands H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) and Forever 21 setting up shop recently in the glitzy shopping district.
Akita says that while makers of fashionable, yet inexpensive, items have brought new shoppers to the area, Matsuya intends to stick to its position as an upscale department store.
"The focus for Matsuya at this time is to be a specialised department store that meets the needs of Ginza's customers rather than trying to increase our scope," the 51 year-old executive said.
Matsuya, which started as a kimono store in 1869, could see stronger-than-expected results in the financial year to February 2011 as sales look to be up 5 percent between March and August, thanks in part to spending by Chinese tourists, Akita said.
Matsuya did not give individual store forecasts for the March-August first half, but it has said previously it expected a 4.5 percent sales decline at its Ginza store this business year.
Overall the retailer is projecting an annual operating profit of 800 million yen ($9.46 million) on sales of 73.2 billion yen.
"There is a strong chance for an upward (earnings) revision," Akita said.
Competition in Ginza will pick-up next month when rival Isetan Mitsukoshi finishes renovations at its Ginza store that will increase its overall floor space by more than 1.5 times.
Isetan is aiming for sales of 63 billion yen at the renovated store in its first business year. If it meets that target it would dethrown Matsuya, which ranked as Ginza's top retailer with sales slightly above 56 billion yen in the past financial year. ($1=84.59 Yen) (Reporting by James Topham and Ritsuko Shimizu; Editing by Michael Watson and Nathan Layne)