Kinokuniya Bookstore x Culture Convenience Club x Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Establish "Booksellers & Company, Inc." to Realize Bookstore-Led Publishing Distribution Reform

2023.10.02 Press Releases
Booksellers & Company, Inc. / Kinokuniya Book Stores Co., Ltd. / Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. / Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Inc.

Kinokuniya Book Stores Co., Ltd. (Representative Director, Chairman and President: Masashi Takai, hereinafter referred to as "Kinokuniya Bookstore"), Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. (Representative Director, President and COO: Yasunori Takahashi, hereinafter referred to as "CCC"), and Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Inc. (Representative Director, President and CEO: Keiji Okumura, hereinafter referred to as "Nippan") established a joint venture company, Booksellers & Company, Inc. (Representative Director, President and CEO: Tsunetaka Miyagi), on October 2, 2023, with the aim of realizing bookstore-led publishing distribution reform.

New Company Profile

Company Name: Booksellers & Company, Inc. (English trade name: BOOKSELLERS & CO.)

Date of Establishment: October 2, 2023
Head Office Location: 3-17-7 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Office: Business Airport Meguro, 2-15-19 Kamiosaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Capital: 50 million yen (Capital reserve: 50 million yen)
Investment Ratio: Kinokuniya Bookstore 40%, CCC 30%, Nippan 30%
Management Structure: Personnel will be dispatched from the three companies to manage the new company.

The thoughts behind the company name

The company name is a combination of the plural form of the English word "BOOKSELLER," which means a bookstore or someone who sells books, and "company (CO.)," which means a colleague. The company name reflects the desire of the three companies to move forward together with all stakeholders, including readers, publishers, distributors, authors and translators, creators, and bookstores across the country, including the three companies.

Philosophy and Mission

By creating a sustainable publishing distribution cycle that allows publishers to continue delivering a wide variety of publications to readers across the country through bookstores, we will contribute not only to the growth of the publishing industry but also to the development of Japanese culture and society.

Bookstores will continue to exist in towns, and with their own hands, they will carve out a rich future in which more people will develop reading habits and continue to have contact with "knowledge" and "culture" through books.

Business details

(1) Aiming to conclude direct transaction contracts between bookstores and publishers to realize a new direct purchasing scheme in which bookstores and publishers determine purchase quantities while committing to sales and returns, we will negotiate with publishers on behalf of participating bookstores.

(2) We will consolidate the purchasing operations of participating bookstores for products of publishers that have concluded direct transaction contracts into the new company. By utilizing the systems and infrastructure owned by the three companies, as well as individual product sales data and the know-how of bookstore staff, we will achieve appropriate purchasing that minimizes lost sales opportunities and timely, appropriate volume, and environmentally friendly distribution.

(3) With the goal of increasing the number of buyers and purchase volumes at bookstores, we will implement sales promotion initiatives jointly conducted by participating bookstores and realize cross-bookstore services, including a shared app, to enhance reader convenience.

Upcoming Schedule

Further details will be provided to publishers and other interested parties at information sessions and other events starting in October. Additionally, we plan to hold a separate event for bookstores in the spring of 2024 to explain the scheme details and the common app.

Message from the President (Booksellers & Company, Inc. President and CEO, Tsunetaka Miyagi)

The power of books is timeless and universal, and there is a saying that "through reading, one can make friends with the past and the present and transcend East and West."

We believe that the purpose of bookstores lies in delivering a wide variety of publications, cultural and academic information, both in Japan and around the world, to readers throughout the country.

By continuing these activities, we at Booksellers hope to provide people with opportunities for learning, inspiration, and interaction, and to help solve social issues, promote scholarship and the arts, and help realize richer everyday lives. Starting from this idea, we aim to create a sustainable publishing distribution cycle.

Reference material: Representative Director's profile

Representative Director and Chairman Masashi Takai
Born in Tokyo on August 30, 1947.
Graduated from the Faculty of Law, Seikei University in 1970.
Joined Kinokuniya Bookstore in 1971. After serving as a sales manager in various locations, he became a director in 1993 and a managing director in 1999.
He became executive vice president in 2004, president and representative director in 2008, and has also served as chairman since 2015.

President and CEO: Tsunetaka Miyagi
Born in Tokyo on May 4, 1977.
Graduated from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University in 2000.
Joined Kinokuniya Bookstore in 2000. Assigned to Shinjuku Main Branch
Since 2005, he has been seconded to an overseas corporation. After working in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur store), the United States (New York headquarters), and Australia (area manager), he returned to Japan in 2017. Works in the store sales promotion department.
December 2022: Appointed as head of the newly established Business Strategy Office.

Materials related to this matter

Kinokuniya Bookstore x Culture Convenience Club x Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Establish "Booksellers & Company, Inc." to Realize Bookstore-Led Publishing Distribution Reform

Inquiries regarding this matter
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. Public Relations Office / inquiry@ccc.co.jp