is a Japanese footwear company, with stores in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

History

The company was founded by

Masahiro Miki Masahiro Miki (; born July 26, 1955) is a Japanese billionaire businessman, and the founder and largest shareholder of Tokyo-based shoemaker ABC-Mart. Miki is of Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group origina ...

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

in 1985 as Boeki Shoji Inc. In 1987, the company moved to Arakawa and changed its name to International Trading Corporation (ITC). It was in 1990 that ABC-Mart was established, with three stores opening in Tokyo. A year later, ABC-Mart acquired the exclusive sales rights of

Vans Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...

products in Japan. The company was then re-established as a joint stock company in 1997 before moving its headquarters to

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

a year later. In 2002, ITC absorbed ABC-Mart and was renamed ABC-Mart, Inc. before being publicly listed on the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...

. The company then opened its first branch in

in 2003 and in

in 2009. In 2012, ABC-Mart bought the American company

LaCrosse Footwear LaCrosse Footwear, Inc. is Japanese-owned company based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1897 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the footwear company moved to Oregon in 2001 where its Danner Boots subsidiary was based. In 2012, the company, which previously ...

, which in turn purchased the U.S. boot maker Whites Boots in 2014. In 2019, ABC-Mart set a milestone by opening its 1,000th store.

References

External links

* Japanese brands Japanese companies established in 1985 Athletic shoe brands Clothing retailers of Japan Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Footwear retailers Retail companies based in Tokyo Retail companies established in 1985 Shoe brands Shoe companies of Japan {{Japan-company-stub