On 23 September 1957, Daiei's first store, “Housewives' Store Daiei,” opened in front of Senbayashi Station in Asahi-ku, Osaka. This article highlights the key developments that led to its growth into a major supermarket company.
Daiei's first store opened in front of Senbayashi Station in Asahi-ku, Osaka, on 23 September 1957. This was an early event that laid the foundation for its subsequent growth into Japan's largest supermarket company.
Daiei expanded under its founder, Nakauchi Isao (中内 功), and exceeded ¥100 billion in annual sales five years after opening its first store. In 1964, it expanded into the Tokyo metropolitan area, and in 1972, it became Japan's top retailer by sales.
The company's strength lay in adopting a strategy of buying cheaply and selling cheaply, using its discount pricing and purchasing power to strengthen its negotiating position with manufacturers. It pursued an expansion strategy alongside Japan's economic growth and significantly transformed the country's distribution system.
However, management became increasingly difficult from the 1990s after the collapse of the bubble economy, and in 2004 the company pursued a turnaround under the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan. In 2015, it made a fresh start as a wholly owned subsidiary of the AEON Group.