Millennials Slated to Drive the Future of MARUI GROUP

Winning Customer Favor
as Key to Future Growth

Nozomu Inose: Educational background:
Sports and wellness

Winning Customer Favor
as Key to Future Growth

Markets are shrinking in Japan as the birthrate declines and the population ages. For this reason, inclusion initiatives targeting all customers are in line with the direction Japan itself will need to head in the future. These initiatives will therefore be key to the future growth of MARUI GROUP. Winning the favor of a wide range of customers will no doubt create results in the form of earnings. I hope to help MARUI GROUP in winning this favor by thinking about what we can do to aid customers and society, without being bound by existing frameworks, so that the Company can earn greater praise from society.

Establishment of Inclusion
as the New Standard

Kana Hase: Educational background:
Communications and media studies

Establishment of Inclusion
as the New Standard

When I was in university, I had many opportunities to interact with differently abled individuals. These interactions made me doubt the validity of the established social dichotomy that divides people into the supported and the supporters. The concept of inclusion, I believe, can help us establish a new standard of including those who had previously been left behind as they are. MARUI GROUP's idea of co-creation management, which seeks to expand the intersection between the interests of stakeholders, is revolutionary. This approach gives MARUI GROUP, a single company, the potential to change all of society.

Entry into the Business
of Inclusion

Akiya Hamatsu: Educational background:
Humanities and social sciences

Entry into the Business
of Inclusion

MARUI GROUP's inclusion initiatives really resonate with me. In university, I studied base of the economic pyramid businesses. During my studies, I learned about Unilever, a company that makes a business of providing soap to people around the world. I thus realized that inclusion is not just social contribution; it is a viable business concept, a concept that will be crucial to the future growth of Japan. I hope that MARUI GROUP's inclusion initiatives will spread to other companies and throughout society, or even that the Company will come to lead all of Japan on this front.

Job-Hunting Students Included
Among Stakeholders

Karin Sugie: Educational background:
Earth and planetary sciences

Job-Hunting Students Included
Among Stakeholders

I was moved by the idea of co-creation management, which entails creating together with all stakeholders from the perspective of inclusion. When job hunting, most companies only supplied me with simple booklets containing information selected specifically for job hunters. MARUI GROUP, however, provided me with its co-creation management reports and co-creation sustainability reports. It was then that I realized how the Company sees us job-hunting students as included among stakeholders alongside investors and shareholders. MARUI GROUP was the first company to exhibit this sentiment.

Bright and Fulfilling Future
at Home and at Work

Eri Ichikawa: Educational background:
Cultural and creative studies

Bright and Fulfilling Future
at Home and at Work

I felt an attachment to MARUI GROUP when I heard of how the Company was promoting customer diversity with a focus on age, gender, and physical characteristics. Such initiatives are rare among Japanese companies. I found it most appealing how business initiatives are shaped based on meetings with customers and how employees strive to bring joy to customers. At MARUI GROUP, I hope to continue working vigorously, eventually getting married, having kids, and growing into the type of person my kids can be proud of. I see such a bright and fulfilling future for me at MARUI GROUP.

Unique Corporate Culture
Motivating Young Employees

Kei Sato: Educational background:
Cross-cultural studies

Unique Corporate Culture
Motivating Young Employees

During my internship at MARUI GROUP, I toured the head office as well as distribution centers located outside of Tokyo. There, I saw the Company's corporate philosophy of "continue evolving to better aid our customers" as a shared sentiment held by employees of all ages. I was also impressed with the Medium-Term Management Visionary Committee and other official project teams. Based on voluntary participation, these bodies were venues for growth and for dialogue with management. All of these are aspects of MARUI GROUP's unique corporate culture that contribute to the motivation of young employees.

Reason for Joining MARUI GROUP

Sato: During my internship, I learned that MARUI GROUP was more than just a retailer; it also utilized IT to conduct credit card and omni-channel retailing operations. I therefore thought that MARUI GROUP would be a place at which I could grow by experiencing various positions as I develop my career. This is why I decided to join.

Hase: I had previously shopped at Marui stores and bought their private brand products. I was surprised to learn of the Company's unique business model and corporate philosophy. My reason for joining was how the underlying principle of aiding customers is treasured in all of MARUI GROUP's varied and differing businesses. I sensed an unwavering resolve in this commitment.

Hamatsu: I was, of course, convinced by MARUI GROUP's corporate philosophy and job description. However, the main reason I decided to join was simply that all of the employees were people I wanted to work with. During my internship, I felt that they were earnest in their approach to us students, looking to ascertain our individual qualities. The idea of finding a position that suits me through the profession change system and continuing to grow there was also highly appealing.

Sugie: I too felt that MARUI GROUP looked at us students as individuals, and it seemed like they chose who to hire based on who they truly wanted to work with. I liked how they positively evaluate people who are proactive. The fact that the Company values diversity is apparent. The importance placed on engagement is also obvious. I thus joined because I felt like I could work here while being myself.

Ichikawa: During my internship and at discussion forums, I was able to interact with several MARUI GROUP employees, making me want to work with them. I was also attracted to MARUI GROUP's focus on serving customers and how the Company evolves its business together with the changing times.

Inose: I think MARUI GROUP is unique in the breadth of its business and the amount of importance it places on evolution and growth. I plan to go all out no matter which of the Company's businesses I find myself in, whether they be operated by Epos Card, AIM CREATE, MOVING, or another company, and to pursue unrelenting personal growth. I believe that no company will be more suited to my growth over the coming decades than MARUI GROUP.

Ambitions to Be Pursued at MARUI GROUP

Hamatsu: MARUI GROUP is transitioning its stores toward a shopping center model that generates real estate revenues. I believe this makes it so that the Company's business partners are also its customers. When thinking of how to help partners succeed in their business, I came to the realization that shopping center Marui stores need to offer more than just convenience; they must be able to provide more appealing value. I hope to get involved with people outside of MARUI GROUP as I work to serve customers.

Ichikawa: In addition to retailing, MARUI GROUP is also engaged in credit card and various other operations. I want to make as many people as possible aware of this fact. I also think that the try-on store scheme used with Rakuchin Kirei series of shoes is an amazing system. I hope to help spread this system throughout Japan.

Sato: I hope to spread the word about the wide range of sizes Rakuchin Kirei series of shoes and other products are available in, not just to Japanese people, but also to non-Japanese people and people visiting Japan. Also, I know a lot of people who do not realize that EPOS cards belong to MARUI GROUP. I hope to teach such people more about the Company.

Inose: MARUI GROUP has a corporate philosophy based on aiding customers as well as a wide-ranging business. I hope to further develop MARUI GROUP into a unique entity that earns society's praise by advancing the type of initiatives that only MARUI GROUP can. Rather than being satisfied with simply finding a job, I will strive to continue evolving. I am well aware of the importance of linking my own evolution to the evolution of MARUI GROUP.

Hase: ：MARUI GROUP is advancing a wide variety of unique and inclusive initiatives. I hope that such initiatives will become a common fixture in society in the future. Right now, MARUI GROUP's business is centered on the Retailing business and the FinTech business, but this too will likely change going forward. It is my goal to make MARUI GROUP into a company that people are happy to have around, no matter how society changes, by helping the Company implement various initiatives for serving customers.

Sugie: ：I am confident that MARUI GROUP's inclusion initiatives will become commonplace in society in the future. The coming era will be one in which businesses actively seek to include those who have previously been excluded. I hope that my generation will grow MARUI GROUP into a company that others continue to follow in this coming era of inclusion. I may have overspecialized during my university years, but I now feel like I have limitless potential. I plan to tackle all challenges head on going forward.

Maho YamadaEducational background: Frontier media science
Enjoyment of Changes and Differences Experienced in Various Positions
My background is in mathematics, but the part-time job I started in my sophomore year of university taught me the joy of providing customer service face-to-face, making me want to get a sales job that is closely linked to customers. Realizing that MARUI GROUP was the most devoted to its customers, I chose to join the Company. MARUI GROUP offers various positions. I therefore hope to enjoy changes and differences as I experience positions that are suited to me.

Yuto TakeuchiEducational background: Political science
Drive to Aid Customers from the Perspective of Inclusion
When I first started job hunting, I read MARUI GROUP's Co-Creation Sustainability Report 2016. I felt an immediate connection with the Company when I read the discussion between President Aoi, a differently abled individual, and a transgender person. Sensing that the concept of inclusion was entrenched throughout the Company, I decided to join. I had hoped to work at a company like MARUI GROUP, and soon it became the sole target of my job hunt. I feel incredibly motivated by being able to work in an environment that lets me search for ways to better aid customers from various perspectives

Akari MisuEducational background: Social services
Spread of Inclusive Values throughout Society
It was the appeal of MARUI GROUP's management stance of valuing all customers that inspired me to join the Company. I was particularly struck by the inclusive approach toward management demonstrated by initiatives at Hakata Marui based on input from differently abled individuals as well as the suit try-on event held for members of the LGBT community. MARUI GROUP does not see differently abled individuals and members of the LGBT community as the targets of volunteer activities or support drives, but rather treats them as regular customers. I think this approach will contribute to an inclusive society. I want to be in the business of spreading such inclusive values throughout society

Stakeholder Engagement

This sustainability website is designed to accommodate people with color blindness.