Kimura Koichi (木村皓一), founder and chairman of 三起商行, which operates Miki House, has decided to leave the presidency in June this year, and plans are in place to bring Takeda Yoshikatsu (竹田欣克), who oversaw the overseas business, back to Japan as his successor. Kimura Koichi (木村皓一) reportedly told him, “Don’t shave your beard,” when returning to Japan.
Kimura Koichi (木村皓一), founder and chairman of 三起商行, which operates the children’s clothing brand “Miki House,” decided to change presidents in June this year. He reportedly asked that Takeda Yoshikatsu (竹田欣克), who had overseen the overseas business, be brought back to Japan to assume the presidency as his successor. As a condition for returning, Kimura Koichi (木村皓一) reportedly told him, “I want you to return to Japan without shaving your beard.” A TV Osaka program is expected to reveal the background to these events. Attention is focused on further developments.
Kimura Koichi (木村皓一) suffered from polio as a child and experienced life in a wheelchair. He devoted himself to rehabilitation to develop the independence needed to avoid relying on those around him, and was able to walk by the time he graduated from junior high school. He later joined a securities company and decided to start a business while reconsidering the future of his family business. Recognizing the backdrop of the second baby boom, he launched a new business in Kyushu centered on “high-value-added children’s clothing created by designers,” expanding the business through repeated efforts to market prototypes.
The company was incorporated in 1978 and established the Miki House brand as it expanded nationwide. It has now grown to 16 countries and regions and 107 stores. Kimura Koichi (木村皓一) led the company for many years from its founding, but this year, about 50 years after its establishment, the company is set to transition to a successor-led structure.