Takuji Ishihara, President and CEO of Komehyo Holdings Co., Ltd.

We want to eliminate any resistance to second-hand goods through our wide selection of products and attentive customer service.

President and CEO of Komehyo Holdings Co., Ltd.　Takuji Ishihara(Ishihara Takuji)

■ Profile
Born in Nagoya in 1972. 
After graduating from Hyosung International University in the UK, he worked for a major electronics retailer before joining Komehyo Co., Ltd. in 1998. He served as manager of the Yurakucho and Shinjuku stores, and was involved in sales planning, web business, store development, sales promotion, and marketing. He was appointed Representative Director and President in June 2013. In October 2020, when the company transitioned to a holdings structure, he also assumed the position of Representative Director, President and Executive Officer of Komehyo Holdings Co., Ltd.

Komehyo Holdings Co., Ltd., which originally started in Nagoya, became a publicly listed company in 2003 and handles a variety of second-hand brand-name products. We spoke to President and CEO Takuji Ishihara about the reasons for the company's continued growth in the secondary distribution market.

■Save money from part-time work and study abroad at a university in the UK

I didn't go to a Japanese school for university, but to a university in the UK. I had been playing rugby since middle school and had been obsessed with it. I decided to go to the UK, the birthplace of rugby, to play with new rugby members, so I decided to go to a university there. I didn't want my parents to pay for all of my study abroad expenses, so for a year after graduating from high school, I worked part-time at a flower market in Nagoya from 5am until noon, went to an English conversation school in the afternoon, and coached junior high school rugby from 3pm. As Komehyo commercials had been on the air since I was little, I was often called "Komehyo's son," so it was a great experience to be able to take on various challenges overseas, where I could make a name for myself.

■ Joined Yodobashi Camera as a new graduate. After his father's sudden death, he moved to Komehyo

Ever since I was little, I felt the pressure of being the successor to the company, and I thought, "I have no choice but to do that, I have no other choice." That being said, I wanted to gain experience in customer service, so I first chose a job where I wanted to work in a store where I could serve customers. I decided to work for three years, and thinking about how I could spend that limited time in the most meaningful way, I joined Yodobashi Camera Co., Ltd. At that time, most job hunting had ended, but I called the company myself and spoke to the HR person directly, and I ended up joining the company.
After joining the company, I learned every day, but my father passed away due to illness, and I had to leave Yodobashi Camera before the three-year work period. I then decided to follow in his footsteps and work at Komehyo. My uncle (my father's younger brother), who was a vice president, told me that my father always said, "If I ever return, I'll have to build relationships within the company or I'll end up like the emperor with no clothes. I want to rotate through various tasks for about a year, and build relationships within the company, even while working from the bottom up." To put what I learned at Yodobashi Camera to good use, I started working in the camera department, absorbing a wide range of knowledge on the job. Komehyo went public in 2003 and expanded beyond Nagoya to include stores nationwide. I became president in 2013.

■Providing the highest quality products and courteous customer service

Komehyo has focused on improving quality, a wide selection of products, and attentive customer service. We believe that having a wide selection of products is more important than the quality of customer service. Komehyo, which started as a 16.2m2 second-hand clothing store, has continued to operate without advertising expenses, with the founding spirit of "If you buy high, things will gather, and if you sell low, people will gather." This is why we are confident in our product selection.
Through careful customer service in a store with a wide range of products, we have been able to help customers experience that "there is nothing shameful about choosing second-hand goods," and we have realized that by lowering their resistance, we are seeing an increase in repeat customers. Also, although Komehyo is a company that deals in second-hand goods, it does not just "buy and sell," it collects all purchased products at a product center in Aichi Prefecture, where it uses magnifying glasses and microscopes to determine their authenticity, and outsources repairs to any items that need maintenance, increasing their value before displaying them in stores.

■The people I want to work with are those who can work in a team.

I believe that working as a team, with cooperation and symbiosis with those around you, is important in customer service. I would like to work with people who work cooperatively as a team, coming up with various plans and organizing projects to achieve each store's goals. In a rapidly changing society, I believe that working toward goals as a team leads to higher performance than relying on individual ability. We are also looking for people who fully understand Komehyo's relay reuse system, which "increases the value of used items before selling them," and who value customer service that brings joy to customers.

■Message to university students

Whether it's for fun or a part-time job, I hope you enjoy the sensitivity and time you have available only in the present time of your student life with your friends without any regrets. And while your time as a student is precious and limited, don't forget that there are people who support you, and continue to be grateful. The world is currently in a difficult situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I hope you will create some wonderful memories in this limited environment.

Interview with Student Newspaper Online on December 1, 2022 by Maho Wada, a third-year student at Nihon University