Cainz Co., Ltd. President and CEO Takaie Masayuki

Continuing to pursue the customer's perspective, "DIY" for a richer life

Cainz Co., Ltd. President and CEO　Masayuki Takaie (Masayuki Takayama)

■ Profile

Born in Tokyo in 1963. After graduating from the Faculty of Economics at Keio University in 1985, he joined Mitsui Bank, Ltd. (now Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation). In 1999, he joined AT Kearney Co., Ltd. In 2004, he joined Misumi Corporation (now Misumi Group Holdings Inc.) and became its President and Representative Director in 2008, a position he held until 2013. In 2016, he became a director of Cainz Co., Ltd. After serving as Vice President and Director, he has held his current position since 2019. Since March 2022, he has also served as Chairman and Representative Director of Tokyu Hands Co., Ltd. (now Hands Co., Ltd.).

Cainz is the leader in the home improvement industry. Its president is Takaya Masayuki, who previously worked as a banker and consultant before going on to become president of Misumi Group Headquarters. Takaya says he aims to be a professional manager who can grow a company with a solid structure. We spoke to him about the appeal of Cainz and the reforms he has implemented.

At university, I focused on tennis, which I had been playing since junior high school. Even now, I pick up a racket on my days off to refresh my mind and body. I decided to enroll in the Faculty of Economics at Keio University to learn the principles of economic systems and social mechanisms that will enrich society as a whole. After that, I joined Mitsui Bank, a major player in the economy, as I felt that the bank had a corporate culture where each employee acted on their own ideas, and I aimed to become a corporate employee who could compete on my own merits.
While working as a banker, I came across a book about how management experts were turning around IBM, a major American IT company. This made me realize that among managers, in addition to homegrown presidents and founders, there are also people who are brought in from outside as "professional managers" and are able to grow companies. My desire to try my hand at being a professional manager grew stronger, so I moved to AT Kearney and became a strategic consultant, where I gained management experience by studying and practicing management methods and management theories. Then, at the age of 40, I decided I wanted to actually grow a business company as a manager, so I moved to Misumi, where I became president at the age of 45, and worked there for five years. After that, I realized that "experience at just one company does not make you a professional," so I moved to Cainz, where I became president in 2019.

■Pursuing the customer's perspective with the spirit of "Kindness"

Cainz's strength is that the spirit of "Kindness," from which the company name is derived, is permeated throughout 230 stores nationwide and approximately 20,000 members (employees). Meanwhile, looking at the home improvement industry, sales have remained flat since peaking in 2005. However, as the number of stores has increased, sales efficiency per square meter has been on a downward trend, putting the industry in a difficult position. Therefore, immediately after assuming the position of president in March 2019, he has been working on major reforms, positioning the company as "the third founding." In this third founding period, which began in 1989 and continued through the SPA declaration in 2007, he is working on various measures to "create the next Cainz."
Let me give you one example. At Cainz, current Chairman Tsuchiya made the SPA declaration in 2007, making a major shift in strategy, moving away from simply purchasing and selling products from manufacturers and toward creating original products of his own. This was because the world was changing from an era of "price" based on mass consumption of mass-produced goods to an era of "value" based on long-term use of a single, high-quality product. Original products now account for approximately 40% of sales. The company has received numerous awards both domestically and internationally, including the Good Design Award for 11 consecutive years, and has come to be highly praised for its design and functionality.
When developing products, we place great importance on the "customer perspective" of the 2 employees who work at Cainz. When they return home from the store, they are also members of the local community. There is no way we can avoid making use of their abundant ideas. At development meetings, developers make presentations to store employees, and if their ideas are not approved, they cannot be commercialized. I believe that it is by repeatedly going through this steady process that we are able to provide products that solve customers' problems and enrich their lives.
Cainz's product development has these strengths, and since I became president, we have been reforming it as well. We have completely restructured our structure from a "product-specific organization" based on product number, such as frying pans and hangers, to a "customer-provided value-based organization" based on lifestyle, daily necessities, and professionals (craftsmen). This is because we felt that product development was being done from the seller's perspective, rather than the customer's, and that it was not fully meeting the value that customers expected.
As a result, many hit products have been created based on the "Rakukaji" concept, which makes housework easier and more enjoyable. These include the "Cutting Board Sheet," which can be placed on top of a cutting board to eliminate the need to wash the cutting board after each ingredient, and the "Divided Frying Pan Foil," which allows multiple side dishes to be cooked at the same time.

■ Eliminate regional disparities and provide a richer life through "Kumimachi"

Recently, various regional issues have become apparent across Japan due to factors such as the concentration of population in urban areas, a declining birthrate and aging population, a declining population, and an increase in natural disasters, threatening the sustainability of local communities and economies. Since its founding, Cainz has aspired to "contribute to social development through commerce," and our 230 stores across 28 prefectures have been operating while working closely with the local community. Further developing this founding aspiration, we have carefully listened to the concerns, concerns, and needs of each community, formulating and implementing the "Kumimachi" concept, which aims to realize a "town" (i.e., a local community) where people can become independent, enjoy life together, and help each other, and where each individual can play a leading role.
The value that a locally rooted retailer like ours can provide to the local community is not just economic value, but also leads to sustainable growth in the region and further social value.
As an example, we are currently starting to develop "Kumimachi School," a place where students can learn through experience (DIY) the "power to live" that schools don't teach. Regular classes are scheduled to start in April 2023, and we plan to use the surplus space in our store.
Through projects like this, we hope to solve the various issues facing Japan's regions and daily lives, and change the current situation in which half of Japan's local governments are at risk of disappearing.

■Message to university students

As I mentioned earlier, as part of the major reforms we are currently undertaking, which we are positioning as our third founding, in March 2020 we decided on a new corporate philosophy for Cainz and established three core values: "Connecting with Kindness," "Creating Creativity," and "Going Beyond Boundaries."
Cainz has spread the culture of "creation" throughout society, where people try new things and give them form. Even now, we continue to step outside the box, stepping outside the box and constantly taking on new challenges.
Based on this corporate philosophy, we define "DIY Living" as anything you do yourself to improve your life, and our mission is to make "DIY Living" a part of our culture.
I hope that all students will value forming their own sense of self and becoming independent, so that they can continue to take on challenges without losing sight of themselves in this rapidly changing world.
I believe that it is precisely because we have the strength to discipline ourselves that we are able to be kind to others. Let's work together to create a world filled with "Kindness," with the rich imagination to understand the feelings of others and the love to truly cherish them.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on January 12, 2023 by Hayato Tane, a fourth-year student at Chuo Gakuin University