Corporate History

Nitori’s history and changes are described below.

1967	December	“NITORI Furniture Store” Established
1972	March	“NITORI Furniture Wholesale Center Co., Ltd” (2 stores) Founded
1975	December	“Nango Store”, Japan’s first air dome construction, opened as a furniture store in Shiroishi Ward Sapporo (moved to the Shiroishi Store in December, 1980)
1978	June	Company name changed to “NITORI Furniture Co., Ltd”
1980	August	“Distribution Center” moved to Teine District, Sapporo and automated warehouse opened to save labor and maintain storage Head office attaching to the distribution center moved to its present location
1981	June	“Tomakomai Store” opened in Tomakomai as the first store outside of Sapporo
1985	May	Direct import of overseas products started
	July	Company name changed to “NITORI Co., Ltd” and store name to “Home Furnishing NITORI”
	October	“One house proposal” started based on the idea of O.T.C.M.
1988	April	“Store Development Department Kanto Office” established in Matsudo, Chiba
1989	March	“N.T. Singapore PTE, Ltd.” Established as a Singapore-based affiliate
	September	Listed in Sapporo Stock Exchange
1990	February	New Head Office constructed
	July	“Kyushu Distribution Center” opened in Ohkawa, Fukuoka
1992	October	Awarded by the Minister of International Trade and Industry as an outstanding international trader
1993	March	“Katsuta Store” opened in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki as the first store in Honshu
1995	September	Expanded the Distribution Center and established the most advanced automatic storage system. (Total floor area 10,000m², 14 of automatic storage system, 4,300 of racks)
	November	“Kanto Distribution Center” opened in Funabashi, Chiba
1998	March	Store name changed to “Home Fashion NITORI”
1999	July	“Socia Store” the first Home Fashion store opened
	September	“Crystal Mall Nikonikodo NITORI” (Present Yume-town Kumamoto store) opened in the shopping center in Kumamoto as the first store in Kyushu
	November	“Yume Town Takamatsu Store” opened in Takamatsu as the first store in Shikoku
2000	July	“Kanto Distribution Center” reorganized and moved to Shiraoka, Saitama
	August	Marumitsu Co., Ltd fully subsidized
	November	“Aeon Gushikawa Store” opened as the first store in Okinawa
2001	October	Construction started on the expansion of the Kanto Distribution Center to 112,540m²
2002	April	“Kaizuka Store” opened in Kaizuka as the first store in Osaka
	August	The Second stage construction of Kanto Distribution Center completed and full operation started
	October	Listed in Tokyo Stock Exchange
2003	November	“Construction of Kansai Distribution Center” started in Port Island in Kobe, Hyogo
	December	“Utsunomiya Store” opened, achieving the target of 100 stores Construction of “Marumitsu Vietnam Factory” started in Hanoi
2004	January	Surpassed sales of 100 billion Yen
	March	“Pinghu Distribution Center” opened in Shanghai, China The first Japanese company Licensed for and established of 100% joint venture based on the Foreign Business Investment Export Supply Center Management Law Conducted the 5% reduction in price of all products with total labeling system of consumption tax.
	September	Advanced into the Internet Shopping business
	October	Trial production at the Marumitsu Vietnam Factory started
	November	Started full operation of “Kansai Distribution Center” Donated 100 million Yen to the victims of Niigate Chuetsu Earthquake
2005	January	Received the “Expansion of individual Shareholder Award” from the Tokyo Stock Exchange Donated 200 million Yen to the victims of the Sumatra Earthquake through the Japan Red Cross Society
	February	NITORI Hokkaido Aid Fund established A portion of profits applied for the aid fund in Hokkaido
	July	The scholarship ceremony of “NITORI International Scholarship Foundation” and gathering party held
	November	A certification of the international standard for the quality management system,”ISO9001:2000” received “NITORI endowed chair course” established to revitalize the local economy of Hokkaido as a social contribution activity.
2006	April	“Akabane Store” opened in Kita-ku, Tokyo.
	June	Construction of “Huizhou Distribution Center” started in Huizhou, China
	July	Tokyo Head Quarters newly located on the 6th and 7th floor of “Akabane Store”
	October	“Overseas trade business policy meeting” held (the first holding in Japan). The first “NITORI World Circle” (NWC) held (small group activities)
	December	Yubari Project of “Shiawase-no-Sakura-to Momiji” executed as the Reconstruction Support of Yubari city The project of planting 20,000 trees in Yubari launched
2007	January	The first world “NWC” meeting held
	May	The first overseas store “Kaohsiung Dream Time store” opened in Kaohsiung, Taiwan Akio Nitori (president) entitled the Honorary Consul of France in Sapporo
	October	Started selling “Integrated Kitchen System” business. Entered the market with Home Improvement Work The second “NWC” held (small group activities)
	December	Became the main sponsor of the Consadole J-League soccer club
2008	May	Started “the 1, 3 and 5-year warranty service” on furniture
	June	The first “Price Reduction Declared” started
	November	Awarded silver prize of “Excellent Product Safety Measure Firm” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
2009	March	Started the outlet shops and NITORI NET
	September	“Lalaport Misato Store” opened, achieving the target of 200 stores
2010	May	Another “Price Reduction Declared” conducted, reduced the prices of 3,400 items in total
	August	Reorganized to a Holding Company. Changed the corporate name and organization NITORI Co., Ltd → NITORI Holdings Co., Ltd
2011	March	Accomplished to open stores in 47 prefectures by “Matsue Store” in Shimane Donated 1.8 billion Yen for the victims of the Great East Japan earthquake

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