Yamada Denki
Encyclopedia
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
retailer chain
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
s in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Some of its stores also sell other products, such as books.
Overview
The company was founded in 1973 as a privately-owned store. Yamada Denki Co., Ltd. was established in 1983. The current corporation was created on May 21, 1987 by a merger with the dormant company "Japan Electrical Wiring Industries", founded in 1978, via a change in the face value of the stock, and a change in the company name (to Kabushiki-gaisha Yamada Denki). Yamada Denki is listedInitial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
in the first division of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Tokyo Stock Exchange
The , called or TSE for short, is located in Tokyo, Japan and is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies...
, and the location of its head office is 4-40-11, Hiyoshi-chō, Maebashi
Maebashi, Gunma
is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, Japan.The city was founded on April 1, 1892, by the samurai Makuba Kawai.On December 5, 2004 the town of Ōgo, and the villages of Kasukawa and Miyagi, all from Seta District, were merged into Maebashi....
, Gunma Prefecture
Gunma Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the northwest corner of the Kantō region on Honshu island. Its capital is Maebashi.- History :The remains of a Paleolithic man were found at Iwajuku, Gunma Prefecture, in the early 20th century and there is a public museum there.Japan was without horses until...
, Japan. The head office is scheduled to move to Takasaki, Gunma
Takasaki, Gunma
is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan.The city was founded on April 1, 1900.Takasaki is a regional transportation hub because its train station is the junction of several rail lines as well as a Shinkansen stop....
in 2007. In February 2005, the company achieved sales figures of 1 trillion yen, making it the first specialist retailer in Japan to do so.
At the end of 2004, the company had 223 directly-run stores across Japan, and 33 stores owned by subsidiaries
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
, a total of 256 stores. It aims to expand further by branching out into small-scale retail and retail in the areas close to train stations. With the opening of the Tecc Land Tokushima Aizumi store in Aizumi
Aizumi, Tokushima
is a town located in Itano District, in the northeast of Tokushima, Japan. As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 31,623 and a density of 1,943.64 persons per km². The total area is 16.27 km²....
, Tokushima Prefecture
Tokushima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on Shikoku island. The capital is the city of Tokushima.- Tokushima Prefecture and Myodo Prefecture :Long ago, Tokushima City belonged to a region known as Myōdō-gun...
, on July 29, 2005, it became the first consumer electronics retailer to have stores in every prefecture in Japan.
There is a strong rivalry between Yamada Denki and Kojima
Kojima
Kojima Engineering was a Japanese Formula One constructor who entered cars in the Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 and 1977.The team was founded in 1976 by Matsuhisa Kojima. Kojima had made a fortune importing bananas, and was a motor-racing enthusiast, having ridden in Motocross himself in the 1960s...
, another major retailer of consumer electronics, with its head office in the neighboring prefecture of Tochigi
Tochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...
, in Utsunomiya
Utsunomiya, Tochigi
is the capital and most populous city of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. In October 2010 the city had an estimated population of 510,416 and a population density of 1,224.49 people per square kilometer. The total area is 416.84 km². had a population of 888,005 in the 2000 Census...
. Sales competition between the two has often caused sparks to fly, and sometimes disputes have ended up in court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
. There have been fierce battles for shop sales and store locations with other companies in the same industry, and in every store location "consumer electronics wars" named after the local area have broken out. In Shizuoka
Shizuoka, Shizuoka
is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefecture's second-largest city in terms of both population and area. It became one of Japan's 19 "designated cities" in 2005.-Geography:...
, in June 2005, Yamada Denki made news by opening a store next to the Kojima store on National Route 1
Route 1 (Japan)
National Route 1 is a major highway on the island of Honshū in Japan. It connects Chūō, Tokyo in the Kantō region with the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture in the Kansai region, passing through the Chūbu region en route. It follows the old Tōkaidō westward from Tokyo to Kyoto, and the old Kyo Kaidō...
, Suruga-ku
Suruga-ku, Shizuoka
is one of three wards of Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan, located in the southern part of the city. The north east of Suruga-ku faces Aoi-ku; the north west faces Shimizu-ku; the south west faces Yaizu city and south east faces Suruga Bay....
, which was of the same scale. There are several other stores next to Kojima stores. In Kumagaya
Kumagaya, Saitama
is a city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 203,089 . The total area is 159.88 km². The city is one of the biggest in northern Saitama Prefecture. It is the administrative, business and commercial centre in northern Saitama Prefecture. Eight...
, Saitama Prefecture
Saitama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
, despite having a store at some distance from the Kojima store, Yamada Denki opened a new store in the building vacated by Maruetsu, right in front of Kojima
Kojima
Kojima Engineering was a Japanese Formula One constructor who entered cars in the Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 and 1977.The team was founded in 1976 by Matsuhisa Kojima. Kojima had made a fortune importing bananas, and was a motor-racing enthusiast, having ridden in Motocross himself in the 1960s...
's nose, while keeping their existing store open. Kojima then opened a "New Kumagaya store", more than twice the size, renovating it using the scrap-and-build method. Since the 1990s, competition between the stores has been so tight that other rivals are unable to come close. At one point during the time when it was called Gigas Kansai, Gigas opened a store, but was quickly forced to withdraw. In Kōriyama, Fukushima
Koriyama, Fukushima
is a city in the center of the Nakadōri region of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. As of May 2011, the city had an estimated population of 336,328. The total area is 757 km²....
, Kojima and Best Denki
Best Denki
is a Japanese electronics retailer with outlets across Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Kuwait. Best Denki headquarters is located in Fukuoka. Previously, in Singapore, it was known as "Yaohan Best", when it started operations there in 1985. After Yaohan's bankruptcy,...
used to have stores at the same crossroads, but Best Denki withdrew, and Kojima reopened its New Murayama store, which had been closed, increasing its area several times using the scrap-and-build method. The competition in the consumer electronics field is still continuing at present.
Before Yamada Denki brought in its point system, it set up an experimental store to test the system, using the name "Digital 21" rather than "Tecc Land", in Adachi-ku and Okayama Prefecture
Okayama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Okayama.- History :During the Meiji Restoration, the area of Okayama Prefecture was known as Bitchū Province, Bizen Province and Mimasaka Province.- Geography :...
. In Okayama, a Tecc Land store was closed and renovated to turn it into the Digital 21 Okayama store.
Groups including , a trade union composed of booksellers from across Japan, have expressed the opinion that issuing points for books, and selling books using points, is an infringement of the resale price maintenance
Resale price maintenance
Resale price maintenance is the practice whereby a manufacturer and its distributors agree that the latter will sell the former's product at certain prices , at or above a price floor or at or below a price ceiling...
system, and requested that the redemption rate of the points (currently 3%) be lowered. When points were introduced, the rate for books was 5%, but it was later lowered to 3%.
In June 2004, the main Hiroshima store was opened in the central district of Hiroshima, partly as a test run for a city-based store. Based on the knowhow acquired from this test, "LABI1 Namba" was opened in 2006. The opening hours of the main Hiroshima store and LABI1 Namba are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., the longest of any Yamada Denki stores in the country.
In August 2005, the company bought land in front of the east exit of Takasaki Station
Takasaki Station
is a train station located in Yashimachō, Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture Japan. This station is used by East Japan Railway , Japan Freight Railway and Jōshin Dentetsu.-Lines:*East Japan Railway Company **Jōetsu Shinkansen...
through Shimizu Corporation
Shimizu Corporation
is a leading architectural, engineering and general contracting firm, offering an integrated, comprehensive planning, design and build solutions for a broad range of construction and engineering projects worldwide...
. This is scheduled to be completed in 2007, becoming the location of a large city store, and doubling as the company headquarters. There was initially a plan to build the store in the Minato Mirai 21
Minato Mirai 21
, often shortened to Minato Mirai or MM is a large urban development in Yokohama, Japan. Minato Mirai 21 area is designated for new urban center planned to connect city's traditional center of Kannai and Yokohama Station area....
area of Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, but the plan was changed, apparently because the Yokohama city government expressed concerns about traffic congestion in the area.
In November 2005, Yamada Denki, together with the Kagawa Prefecture
Kagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on Shikoku island. The capital is Takamatsu.- History :Kagawa was formerly known as Sanuki Province.For a brief period between August 1876 and December 1888, Kagawa was made a part of Ehime Prefecture.-Battle of Yashima:...
supermarket Marunaka, and the electrical goods retailer "Dynamite", also from Kagawa, founded "Chūgoku / Shikoku Tecc Land". Dynamite was transformed into a franchise, and its major stores were changed to Tecc Land stores. The result, in practice, was the acquisition of Dynamite.
As of 2006, the company uses the actor Masanobu Takashima
Masanobu Takashima
is a Japanese film and television actor.-Career:He has appeared in over twenty television productions and ten films in Japan and other countries as well....
and the professional soccer player Shunsuke Nakamura
Shunsuke Nakamura
is a Japanese footballer who currently plays for Yokohama F. Marinos in J. League Division 1. He is one of the most prominent and successful Asian players to have played in Scotland and on 13 September 2006 became the first Japanese player to score in the UEFA Champions League and the second Asian...
for publicity, and the two appear in television commercials.
Trivia
(Lyrics: "Yamada Denki and its jolly friends"; Music: ) is used as background music inside the store, and in television commercials.This song ends in a coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
, over which (as of December 2006) a female singer yells "Yamada.. DENKI!". This ending coda is played at seemingly random intervals within the store, often interrupting the background music - much to the surprise of patrons not accustomed to it.
History
- 1973 - Noboru Yamada left JVCJVC, usually referred to as JVC, is a Japanese international consumer and professional electronics corporation based in Yokohama, Japan which was founded in 1927...
to start his own business. - 1983 - Yamada Denki Co., Ltd. founded.
- 1989 - Listed on JASDAQ.
- 1996 - Started business as internet service providerInternet service providerAn Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
. - September 2000 - Promoted to the first section of the Tokyo Stock ExchangeTokyo Stock ExchangeThe , called or TSE for short, is located in Tokyo, Japan and is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies...
. - 2002 - Acquired Daikuma from Ito Yokado as a subsidiary.
- 2004 - Opened Tecc Land Gushikawa store in Gushikawa (now Uruma), Okinawa.
- 2004 - Yamada Denki's first city-based store, the main Hiroshima store, opened.
- 2004 - Invests in Kouziro Co., Ltd, owner of Shopland PC.
- February 25, 2005 - Became the first Japanese specialist store or consumer electronics store to record consolidated sales in excess of 1 trillion yen.
- July 29, 2005 - With the opening of the Tecc Land Tokushima Aizumi branch, succeeded in opening a store in every prefecture in Japan.
- March 10, 2006 - Opened the first city store adjacent to a terminus, LABI1 Namba, 700m south of Namba StationNamba Station-Layout:Midōsuji Line*an island platform and a side platform with 2 tracksSennichimae Line*an island platform with 2 tracksYotsubashi Line*an island platform with 2 tracks-Adjacent stations:-Surroundings:*Takashimaya*Namba City...
in Naniwa-ku, OsakaNaniwa-ku, Osakais one of 24 wards of Osaka City, Japan. It has an area of 4.37 km², and a population of 51,567.- General information :Largely a residential area itself, Naniwa-ku is adjacent to and has in recent years blurred into the Namba district, which is south Osaka City's transport hub and centre of...
. - November 21, 2006 - Entered a business alliance (and capital alliance) with a Kyūshū-based consumer electronics retailer, . The companies plan to found a joint venture, Kyūshū Tecc Land, by February 2007.
- 007]- present] - Opened a city store in front of the east exit of Takasaki StationTakasaki Stationis a train station located in Yashimachō, Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture Japan. This station is used by East Japan Railway , Japan Freight Railway and Jōshin Dentetsu.-Lines:*East Japan Railway Company **Jōetsu Shinkansen...
in Takasaki, GunmaTakasaki, Gunmais a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan.The city was founded on April 1, 1900.Takasaki is a regional transportation hub because its train station is the junction of several rail lines as well as a Shinkansen stop....
, and moved the company headquarters, currently in Maebashi, to the new Takasaki store.