or is a Japanese group of supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

s, shopping centers, and department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

s owned by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Its head office is in Akabane, Kita

Kita, Tokyo

is one of the special wards of Tokyo, Japan. In English, it calls itself the City of Kita .As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 332,140 and a population density of 16,140 persons per km². The total area is 20.59 km².-Geography:...

, Tokyo.

History

It was Established in December 1946, and It was formed in 1956 by Seibu Department Stores

Seibu Department Stores

is a Japanese department store. The first store to trade under the name opened its doors in 1949. Seibu is typical of Japanese department stores with a wide variety of stores doing business on several floors. The company is now a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd..-Japan:The Seibu...

 in 1956, a group company of Seibu Railway

Seibu Railway

is a conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Japan, with principal business areas in railways, tourism and real estate. Seibu Railway's operations are concentrated in northwest Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture; the name "Seibu" is an abbreviation of "west Musashi," referring to the historic name for this area...

. In 1980, Seiyu launched its private brand Mujirushi-Ryōhin (commonly known as MUJI

MUJI

, or is a Japanese retail company which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods.Muji is distinguished by its design minimalism, emphasis on recycling, avoidance of waste in production and packaging, and no-logo or "no-brand" policy....

 outside Japan).

According to BusinessWeek Online, Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

, the giant American retailer, bought a 37 percent stake in Seiyu in 2002, and according to a company press release, in late 2005 Wal-Mart acquired a majority stake in the company which it has since increased to 95% ownership, and 100% ownership in 2008.

Previously the company had a registered office in Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo.

International operation

In addition to its Japanese operations, Seiyu also has department stores operating under its name in Singapore and Hong Kong. The group used to directly operate its Singapore and Hong Kong stores, but in October 2005 its three Singapore stores were sold to CapitaLand Limited, which transferred them to Beijing Hualian Group later the same year. The group's Hong Kong store in New Town Plaza

New Town Plaza

New Town Plaza is a shopping mall in the town centre of Sha Tin in Hong Kong. Developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties, it was the biggest shopping mall in the New Territories of Hong Kong when it was completed in the early 1980s...

, Sha Tin

Sha Tin

Sha Tin, also spelled Shatin, is an area around the Shing Mun River in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District.-Geography:...

 was sold to Sun Hung Kai

Sun Hung Kai

Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. is a listed corporation based in Hong Kong. The company is controlled by the family trust set up by Kwok Tak Seng, who founded the company.-History:...

 Properties Limited in June 2005, but like the store in Singapore it continued to operate under the Seiyu name until April 27, 2008, then the store is renamed as BHG which stands for 'Be Here for Good things' .

Group companies

"Seiyu Group" refers to an association of companies, of which The Seiyu, Ltd. is the parent company. The companies in Seiyu Group are:

• The Seiyu, Ltd. (parent company)
• Hokkaido Seiyu Co., Ltd.
• Tohoku Seiyu Co., Ltd.
• S.S.V. Inc.
• Kyushu Seiyu Co., Ltd.
• Sunny Co., Ltd.
• Wakana Co., Ltd.
• Smile Corp.
• The SCC, Ltd.
• Nicoh Inc.
• Nijicom Ltd.
• Smis Co., Ltd.
• Seiyu Service Co., Ltd

Company homepage

http://www.seiyu.co.jp/company/english/ http://www.seiyu.co.jp/