CNN
—
Hirotake Yano, the Japanese billionaire founding father of Daiso Industries who helped popularize the discounted dollar-shop idea, has died of coronary heart failure.
He handed away in Hiroshima on February 12, the corporate mentioned in a statement on Monday. Shut members of the family held a non-public funeral and a commemoration will probably be organized, it mentioned.
Yano’s web value was about $1.9 billion on the time of his dying, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
After graduating from Tokyo’s Chuo College in 1967, Yano labored totally different jobs earlier than he based a small store about 5 years later promoting merchandise for 100 yen, which was then equal to about 30 cents, based on Daiso.
He integrated the corporate in 1977, naming it Daiso, which translates to “creating one thing huge.”
The chain, now a world firm, sells all kinds of knickknacks and family items, together with stationery and snacks, for principally below $1 apiece.
It has grown right into a retail empire, with over 4,360 shops throughout Japan and greater than 990 abroad shops of the tip of 2023, based on its website.
Daiso first ventured abroad in 2001, opening branches in Taiwan and South Korea. It later expanded quickly with shops in Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and the USA.
The low cost chain revamped 550 billion yen ($ 3.6 billion) in gross sales as of February 2022, based on the privately-held firm.
The enterprise mannequin spawned related 100-yen retailers in Japan like Seria and Can Do.
In 2018, Daiso established a pricier 300-yen Threeppy retailer, which provides extra residence furnishings. It acquired Japanese finances retailer CouCou in 2020.