Hirotake Yano, billionaire founder of Daiso dies at 80

Hirotake Yano, the founder of Japanese discount retailer Daiso Industries, died in Hiroshima on Feb 12. -ST FILE

TOKYO: Hirotake Yano, the founder of Japanese discount retailer Daiso Industries Co., has died of a heart failure. He was 80.

He passed away in Hiroshima on Feb 12, according to a company statement sent on Monday (Feb 19). Close family members held a private funeral, and he will be commemorated at a gathering in the near future, the release said.

Known as a pioneer of the dollar-shop business model, Yano had a net worth of about US$1.9 billion at the time of his death, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

After graduating from Tokyo’s Chuo University in 1967, Yano worked different jobs - including running his father-in-law’s fishery until it went bankrupt - before he started hawking goods from the back of a truck in 1972. That gave him the idea of charging a flat 100 yen for all his merchandise to save the time it took to attach the price tags. He incorporated Daiso, which translates to "creating something big,” in 1977.

The company became successful as stagnant wages and a sputtering economy led Japanese consumers to look for goods that fetch better value for their money. The business model has also become popular in other countries.

Closely held Daiso, with revenue of 589.1 billion yen ($3.9 billion) in the year ended February 2023, had 4,360 domestic stores and 990 overseas locations by the end of December, according to its website. - Bloomberg