- Business
- H2O Retailing Corporation (TSE:8242) operates department stores, supermarkets, shopping centers, and related retail services primarily in Japan's Kansai region. The company conducts its Department Store Business through Hankyu Department Stores and Hanshin Department Stores, offering clothing, personal care items, household goods, and foodstuffs; its Food Business segment encompasses supermarkets under brands including Izumiya, Hankyu Oasis, and Kansai Super Market, alongside food manufacturing such as laver seaweed, bread, prepared foods, fresh foods, dried foods, and organic farming products; the Commercial Facility segment provides real estate rental management, building maintenance, and hotel operations; and Other Businesses deliver logistics, security, temporary staffing, interior construction, restaurants, information processing, uniforms, pet accessories, furniture, insurance agency, credit-card, travel agency, and bridal costume services. Founded in 1929 as Hankyu Department Stores and renamed H2O Retailing Corporation in 2007 following its merger with Hanshin Department Stores, the company maintains its main store at 8-7 Kakuda-cho, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, with headquarters operations at Osaka Umeda Twin Towers South. In recent developments, H2O Retailing executed a share exchange in 2024 to make Kansai Food Market Ltd. a wholly-owned subsidiary, advancing the integration of Izumiya, Hankyu Oasis, and Kansai Super Market through unified logistics, core systems, and human resources to enhance supermarket management efficiency; it also pursues its Mid-term Management Plan (2024-2026) by converting stores to standardized formats, accelerating self-checkout installations, and implementing share repurchases including off-auction own-share acquisitions and participation in Toho Co., Ltd.'s tender offer.