Nitori Group Accelerating Store Openings in Asia: Launching Its First Store in Republic of Korea in November 2023

Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd. based in Sapporo, northern Japan, has announced the opening of its first Nitori store in the Republic of Korea, aiming to accelerate more store openings in the Asian market. It will open in November 2023 in emart Hawolgok, a hypermarket in Seoul.

Image: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M106920/202310020515/_prw_PI1fl_X69nT9na.jpg

Nitori is Japan's largest furniture and home-furnishing retail chain, and its vision is to open 3,000 stores and achieve sales of 3 trillion yen by 2032, based on the mission statement "To enrich homes of people all over the world." The main business of the Nitori Group is opening "Nitori" stores that sell furniture and home-furnishing products. The Group also operates "Deco Home" stores that sell home-furnishing products with a focus on daily necessities, "Shimachu" home improvement stores that sell hardware, daily goods and furniture, and "N Plus" stores that sell apparel for adult women. Nitori has opened 805 stores in Japan and 148 stores in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, with a total of 953 stores operating around the world.

The Nitori Group has built a business model, encompassing everything from product planning to manufacturing, distribution, and sales, in order to provide a wide variety of products that "offer the unexpected" and are of excellent quality at low prices. In the process, Nitori has built a network in the Asian region consisting of many partner companies and of its own factories and trading companies. Along with numerous business partners, Nitori is striving to propose the creation of enjoyable, prosperous, and totally coordinated living spaces to people all over the world.

The Asian market, where significant growth is expected, is important for the realization of Nitori's mission and vision. Hence, it has positioned the expansion of its store network by accelerating store openings as one of its top priorities. Korea, a world leader in the electronics, IT, and automotive industries, occupies an important position in the Asian economy and has an extremely advanced and sophisticated consumer market. In order to contribute to the enrichment of the lives of Korean customers, Nitori will offer products and coordination solutions that suit the changing seasons, as well as style-specific coordination solutions that match the tastes of customers. By striving to be accepted in Korea, a country with an abundance of aesthetically creative and imaginative lifestyles, Nitori hopes to strengthen its products and services. To expand its store network in Korea, Nitori is aiming to open 200 stores in the next 10 years.

In 2022, Nitori launched 37 stores in four countries and regions in Asia, including its first opening in Malaysia and Singapore. The following year, Nitori opened its first store in Thailand in August and Hong Kong in September, which are supported by many customers.

In addition to Korea, Nitori plans to open its first stores in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. By the end of March 2024, it plans to open 78 new stores in both existing and new countries and regions, bringing the total number of stores in the Asian region to 206. Furthermore, from 2025 and beyond, Nitori plans to open an average of 300 stores per year overseas in order to fulfill its mission and vision.

First Nitori store in Korea
– Opening date: November 2023
– Facility name: emart Hawolgok
– Location: B1F, emart Hawolgok, 167, Jongam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul
*Details TBA at a later date

Comment from Akio Nitori, Representative Director & Chairperson (CEO) of Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd.:
"We have refined our manufacturing-logistics-IT-retail business model in order to provide products and services that 'offer the unexpected' from the point of view of our customers as we make efforts to realize the Group's mission statement 'To enrich homes of people all over the world.' We are going to accelerate the expansion of our business within the Asian region, which is expected to achieve significant economic growth over the long term and is the core of the supply chain that supports the Nitori Group. We will further accelerate the pace of our store openings to take in the growth of Asia as well as to respond to the needs of customers in Asia. We are very pleased to be able to bring Nitori products to more countries, regions and customers."

Comment from Masanori Takeda, Director, General Manager of Global Merchandising Division, General Manager of Global Sales Promotion Office in Charge of Overseas Sales Business, Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd.:
"We are very pleased to be able to open our store in Korea, which has been our wish for a long time. We will strive to provide products and services that meet the expectations of our sophisticated Korean customers. We are accelerating our store openings within the Asian region and opened our first store in Thailand in August, and our first store in Hong Kong. We will continue to take on the challenge of providing the same standards of quality refined in Japan to the Asian region, so that we can resolve the 'discontent, dissatisfaction, and inconvenience' of our customers and so that more customers can enjoy coordinating various lifestyles and homes around the world."

Comment from Lee Ryegyeong, Store Operation Department, Nitori Korea Co., Ltd.:
"I am very pleased to be involved in Nitori's expansion into Korea. When I returned to Korea and started living alone, I got interested in home decorating. In Korea, you have to visit many shops to find items that suit your taste. I believe Nitori can help them by providing a variety of choices to make their own sweet home just by shopping at Nitori. I will do my best so that our customers in Korea can experience the 'prosperous lifestyle'."

Comment from Garam Kim, Nitori International Scholarship Foundation Alumna:
"Congratulations to Nitori on opening its first store in Korea. Korea is a country that is very close to Japan and has a similar culture and temperature to Japan. Nitori's home furnishing products and furniture offered in Japan are often suited to the lifestyles and tastes of the Koreans, so I think this will be a good market for Nitori. I hope that Nitori will continue to enrich the homes of people not only in Korea but all over the world."

(*) Nitori International Scholarship Foundation
Akio Nitori, the founder of the Company, donated his financial resources to establish the Nitori International Scholarship Foundation in March 2005. He wants to give back to the Asian countries and regions for their tremendous help and support in achieving the goals of Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd. Furthermore, he offers non-repayable scholarships to contribute to further friendship and human resource development around the world. In 2014, Nitori began to provide support to local university students overseas. Since 2021, Nitori has been providing support to universities in Thailand. As of March 31, 2023, it had 9,254 students supported in around 46 countries and regions with a total of 4.22 billion yen.

Map showing students' home countries and regions:
https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M106920/202310020515/_prw_PI2lg_k4W3PS86.jpg

Nitori International Scholarship Foundation website (in Japanese): https://www.nitori-shougakuzaidan.com/

About Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd. (Nitori Group):
https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M106920/202310020515/_prw_PI3lg_53Vhl42B.jpg

Corporate website: https://www.nitorihd.co.jp/en/
Integrated Report: https://www.nitorihd.co.jp/en/ir/library/annual.html
NITORI KOREA website: https://nitorikorea.com

Source: Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd.