For Investors
Welcome to Izumi
From selling dried persimmons on the post-war black market to today
Izumi was established in Hiroshima in 1946. During the era of post-war reconstruction, there were still shortages of many goods. After the war, all Yoshimasa Yamanishi, the founder of Izumi, had left was 800 yen. He used it to start selling dried persimmons on the black market. At a time when sweet food was prized, his dried persimmons were snapped up. With the idea that clothes sell next best after food, Yamanishi closed his stall on the black market after a year and founded Yamanishi Shoten Co., Ltd., an apparel wholesaler that would become Izumi, in 1946.
The times were moving towards a period of rapid economic growth, and as lifestyles changed, new styles of food, clothing and shelter were beginning to emerge. In the United States, supermarkets were becoming common, but, although they were being built in urban areas such as Tokyo and Osaka, there were still none in Hiroshima. Yamanishi established Izumi Co., Ltd. with the desire to open a supermarket in Hiroshima too. He opened the first Izumi supermarket in 1961.
Aiming to be the top store in the region centered on the retail business
In 1980, Izumi changed the Japanese spelling of its name from hiragana to katakana, and in 1990, the Youme Town large-scale shopping center format was launched. The "Town" in the name reflects the desire to create fun places that are like walking through a city or shopping district.
With its core Retail Business composed of GMS (general supermarkets), which includes Youme Town, and SM (food supermarkets), which includes Youme Mart, Izumi expanded from Hiroshima across the western Japan region, including Kyushu and Shikoku. Throughout this process, our constant goal has been to be the top store in the region. We build the biggest store in the best location in town. Alternatively, when we create a store that is most loved by local people, the location becomes the heart of the town. This is what Izumi aims to be: the top store in the region.
From our early days in Hiroshima, we have now expanded our network of stores across western Japan.
Youme Town
Youme Town is a large commercial facility where children, parents, and grandparents can have a pleasant time together. This store operates as a community-based store that provides products, services, and experiences best suited to the lifestyle of local customers.
LECT
Lect is a shopping center that provides a special time to customers, centered on key tenants with three themes: culture, eating, and living. It is a third place that is comfortable and full of discoveries outside of your home, workplace, or school.
Youme terrace
This store will serve as a hub for local life, combining the functionality of Yume Town as a place to relax and gather with the convenience of Yume Mart.
Youme Mart
With a focus on food, the product lineup of this convenient and community-rooted supermarket is closely in tune with regional tastes and includes daily necessities like household goods and underwear.
Youme Mall
With our directly operated Youme Mart supermarket serving as the anchor store, the mall offers home improvement centers, restaurants, and more. It is a one-stop shopping environment where customers can purchase daily essentials.
SUNNY
A small-scale food supermarket operating in the Kyushu region. Making use of its ability to procure fresh produce, the store stocks a wide range of attractive products, including local produce.
Yours
This lifestyle-oriented supermarket operates mainly in Hiroshima Prefecture with the concept of "Enriching your daily life with small discoveries."
Avance
With the keywords "Everyday + High Quality", this is a high-quality food supermarket that provides carefully selected products under strict safety management.
SUNLIFE
A food supermarket operating in Oita Prefecture. We support the lives of our customers by creating a "delicious, friendly, and fun" store that is closely tied to the local community.
Dailymart
A food supermarket operating in Tokushima Prefecture. With the motto of "local production for local consumption," the store offers fresh, safe and secure ingredients.
Our Strengths
For over half a century, we have been working to provide "things the region did not have before."
Our three strengths are our local base, our on-site capabilities, and our ability to respond to change.
We are working to increase our brand power and maximize our market share in the Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu regions by developing stores through our dominant strategy. We will continue to build a solid regional infrastructure by opening new stores, and M&A and alliances.
In order to become the top store in the region, we have adopted a store-oriented approach where store general managers, store managers, and staff act autonomously in managing stores in ways that best suit the region. As a result, we are able to flexibly and promptly renew our product lineup and expand our services according to the local environment and circumstances.
We meet the diverse needs of our customers in three business formats: shopping centers, food supermarkets, and neighborhood shopping centers. In addition, we continue to respond to the changing times by investing in the revitalization of existing stores, and scrapping and building.
Talking to customers is important for me. Although purchases can now be made easily online, I think that the strength of a physical store lies in the ability to suggest products that suit the symptoms and concerns of the customer by talking to the people who actually visit the store.
Manager
N.S.
We plan and implement the sales promotions and in-store events of each tenant with the aim of making Youme Town enjoyable every time. By enhancing our events for children, we will also contribute to the community by making Youme Town into a place where memories are made.
Manager
H.H.
We offer a range of carefully-selected branded bedding products with health as the focus. With our commitment to "local production for local consumption," we also took the initiative in developing an outlet for "Izumo towels" made with cotton produced in Izumo. We are contributing to the community by selling products that had no sales outlets other than directly-managed stores.
Manager
M.R.
We provide opportunities that enable local owners to thrive through weekend events. Starting this year, we have concluded an agreement with the Kagawa Olive Guyners from the independent professional baseball league and plan to increase the number of events held with local children.
Store Manager
M.M.
Even in the area of apparel, we vary our range of merchandise from store to store to suit the characteristics of the region and the store. We will continue to change in line with the needs of our customers, such as school events and local festivals, so that we become a store that coexists with and is loved by the local community,
Store Manager
O.Y.
We hold trial sessions and other events every week to attract the interest of customers and inform them about the advantages of our products. We also feature new and recommended products on social media and focus on providing the latest tips.
General employee
I.H.
Izumi in Data
With the aim of sustainable growth, we are promoting store openings and M&A in addition to enhancing store competitiveness through the revitalization of existing stores.
25.4billion yen
(FY ended February 28, 2025)We are promoting improvements in productivity through digital transformation (DX). We will also increase profitability by enhancing product strength with the development of private brands and creating synergies through M&A.
90yen
(FY ended February 28, 2025)Our basic policy is to maintain a dividend payout ratio of 30% or more (with a progressive dividend).
digital currency cards issued
10.67million
(FY ended February 28, 2025)No annual membership fee ever. We are working to create and expand contact points with customers by holding a large number of higher cashback events at Youme Town and Youme Mart.
2.31million
(FY ended February 28, 2025)We are working to create and expand contact points with customers by enhancing digital coupons, and adding payment functions and flyer viewing functions in order to meet diverse needs.
12,425
*8-hour equivalent(FY ended February 28, 2025)
We aim to create an environment that enables employees with diverse backgrounds to thrive in accordance with their ambitions and abilities.
Growth Strategy
Based on our Management Philosophy, which states "Filling our employees with pride and joy as we continue contributing to communities and our customers' lives," the Izumi Group is working from a long-term perspective to "build communities that are easy to live in where the population will grow" while implementing the strategies set out in the second Medium-Term Management Plan (FY2021 - FY2025* with strategies and plan figures updated in April 2023).
The entire Group is working to realize our Long-Term Vision for achieving a 300-store network centered on the Shikoku and Kyushu areas, operating revenue of 1 trillion yen, and operating profit margin (on sales) of 5.5%* by FY2030.
*We applied the Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition, etc. from the beginning of fiscal 2022, but the figure presented is from before the application of the accounting standard, etc. The figures after the application of the accounting standard, etc. is 740 billion yen in operating revenue and an operating profit margin (on operating revenue) of 7.1%.
Financial Discipline and Shareholder Returns
While being prepared for the risk of sudden changes in the business environment, we will use interest-bearing liabilities to fund investment with a maximum net D/E ratio of around 0.5 to 1.0. We have maintained an A+ credit rating. In terms of shareholder returns, we aim to maintain a dividend payout ratio of 30% or more (with a progressive dividend). We will also carry out share repurchases aimed at achieving optimal capital structure and executing a flexible capital strategy
Business Strategy
We have established six priority themes, which are GMS reform, food supermarkets (SM) reform, strengthening Group management, enabling digital commerce, strengthening customer relations, and promotion of operational reform and human resources development.
As part of this, the Group, with its core Retail Business, perceives area strategy, M&A strategy, and product strategy, which are positioned within the GMS reform, SM reform, and strengthening Group management themes, as aspects for particular focus.
- Existing store renovations, and "scrap and build"
- Strengthening of lifestyle sector
- Promotion of DX
- Development of next-generation shopping centers
- Expansion of store network
- Development of next-generation SM (food supermarkets)
- Revitalization of existing stores
- Utilization of new plant for prepared food
- Promotion of DX
- Pursuit of Group synergies
- Expansion of business areas through M&As and alliances
- Acquisition of new customer base by strengthening Youme Online
- Deepening of trade-area share by strengthening Youme Delivery
- Extension of lifetime value of existing customers
- Creation of new customers
- Operational reform
- Promotion of human resources development
ESG Strategy
We have established four priority themes, which are reduction of CO2 emissions, reduction of plastic packaging, food loss reduction and promotion of food recycling, and strengthened corporate governance. As part of this, we are promoting down-to earth measures in each area including working in the community together with product suppliers and producers to address the problem of food loss, which is deeply related to the Izumi Group's business.