- Business
- Nishimatsuya Chain Co., Ltd. operates a chain of specialty stores primarily retailing baby and children's lifestyle products in Japan. The company offers newborn and baby clothes; children's wear including boys' and girls' outerwear, underwear, and pajamas; childcare and clothing accessories such as hats, shoes, socks, towels, rain gear, bags, backpacks, lunch boxes, and water bottles; baby formula, weaning supplies, hygiene products, and general merchandise; bedding and indoor items including mats, chairs, racks, and walkers; strollers, car seats, and hugging straps; toys and gift sets; maternity products and newborn clothing; and vending machine goods, with products sold through physical stores, online channels, and Nishimatsuya Chain Gift Cards. Its private label brands include ELFINDOLL for apparel and bedding targeting newborns, infants, children, and mothers, and SmartAngel for nursery commodities such as outdoor and indoor goods, toys, hygienics, and rain gear. Founded in October 1956 and headquartered at 266-1 Sho, Shikito-cho, Himeji, Hyogo, Japan, the company maintains approximately 1,145 local retail stores as of February 2025 and pursues B2B wholesale of private label products in over 20 countries including Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, USA, and Vietnam.
Nishimatsuya Chain recently expanded its store network with seven new openings in August 2025 and reached 1,172 stores amid strong sales growth, including a 6.2% year-on-year same-store sales increase in November 2025 driven by winter clothing demand. In October 2025, the company authorized a share buyback of up to 286,000 shares worth 500 million yen and raised its annual dividend forecast to 32 yen per share, reflecting solid first-half ordinary profit growth of 4.2% to 7.50 billion yen for the fiscal year ending February 2026. It marked its first Taiwan store opening at Mitsui Outlet Park Tainan Phase 2 in 2026 as part of international B2B expansion and continues growing online sales through its directly managed platform launched in 2021, with private brands comprising about 30% of sales and targeting 50%.