Daiyu Eight Co Ltd

Daiyu Eight Co Ltd (株式会社ダイユーエイト) is a Japanese company that operates home-improvement stores carrying items such as furniture, gardening tools, etc, as well as a chain of office supply stores. These stores are mainly located in the prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi, and Yamagata. The current president and representative director of the company is Shunichi Asakura.

History
1976 - Established as Asakura Inc. (アサクラ設立) in Fukushima City.

1976 - Opened first store, "Daiyu Eight Fukushima" (ダイユー８福島店), in Fukushima City.

1977 - Changed name from Asakura Inc. to Daiyu Eight (ダイユーエイト).

1991 - Moved headquarters and named the new building the "main office / distribution center (Fukushima distribution center)" (本部・流通センター（福島流通センター）).

1996 - Opened the company's first office supplies store "Office Eight South Fukushima" (オフィスエイト南福島店) in Fukushima City.

2000 - Registered with the Japan Securities Dealers Association (日本証券業協会).

2001 - Established a second distribution center, "Kaminagura Distribution Center" (上名倉流通センター) in Fukushima City.

2002 - Established what would become the flagship store, "Daiyu Eight Fukushima Kuroiwa" (ダイユーエイト福島黒岩店) in Fukushima City.

2003 - Established a large shopping center, "Eight Town Motomiya" (エイトタウン本宮) in Motomiya City, Fukushima Prefecture.

2006 - Listed in the second section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

2007 - Listed in the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

2008 - In an effort to optimize distribution and decrease costs, the center of distribution was moved to the "Tenei Fukushima Distribution Center," in Tenei, Fukushima Prefecture.

2010 - Established "Daiyu Eight MAX Fukushima" (ダイユーエイトＭＡＸ福島店) in Fukushima City.

2011 - Established "One's Cycle South Fukushima" (ワンズサイクル南福島店), the company's first bicycle specialty shop, in Fukushima City.

2012 - Opened first shop in Akita Prefecture, "Daiyu Eight Akita Katagami" (ダイユーエイト秋田潟上店) in Katagami City.

2013 - Opened first shop in Iwate Prefecture, "Daiyu Eight Iwate Mizusawa" (ダイユーエイト岩手水沢店) in Ōshū City.

2016 - Daiyu Eight and LIC Co. merged, creating Daiyu LIC Holdings Co., Ltd.

2018 - Established stores in Sakura City, Tochigi Prefecture., in Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture. and Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture.

2019 - Established store Minamisōma City, Fukushima Prefecture.

2019 - Moved and expanded "Daiyu Eight Yashimada." Established new flagship store "Daiyu Eight West Fukushima" (ダイユーエイト福島西店) in Minamisawamata, Fukushima City.

In January 2016, the company announced that it would resume business at its former location in Tomioka, Fukushima, a town heavily impacted by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Initially, the goal was to reopen in April of the following year. In June 2016, the company aimed to reopen in November 2017 ahead of the town's scheduled repatriation in April. However, according to the company's website, the site remains closed.

Daiyu Eight locations in Iwaki and Asakawa were also flooded during the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. In October, 2019, the company announced plans to reopen these stores; Asakawa in November 2019 and Iwaki in December 2019.

On May 12, 2020, President Asakura led the opening ceremony of an internet-based product distribution center in Kuroiwa, Fukushima City. The warehouse is said to be about ten times larger than previous locations. The number of staff was also increased, from twenty to thirty personnel. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, President Asakura expressed that he would like to expand the company's online functions.

The company expanded its "One Cycle" franchise in 2020 with the establishment of "One's Cycle Fukushima Moriai" (ワンズサイクル福島森合店) in Fukushima City.

In 2021, Daiyu Eight Co Ltd opened three more stores; "Office Eight Yamagata Hakusan" (オフィスエイト山形白店) in Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture; "One's Cycle Fukushima Kamata" (ワンズサイクル福島鎌田店) in Fukushima City; "Daiyu Eight Iwaki Yumoto" (ダイユーエイトいわき湯本店) in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture.

Project Promoting Women in the Workplace
As of January 2016, the company operated 100 store locations and employed over 2,000 people, including both full-time and part-time workers. While the number of full-time employees who were male was notably higher than those who were female, only 9% of part-time workers were women, and only six women had been promoted to the position of shop manager.

To better understand these numbers, and with the stated goal of creating a workplace where all employees are enthusiastic about their work and are able to fully demonstrate their abilities, the company launched a project promoting women in the workplace (女性活躍推進プロジェクト) in September 2015. A survey was distributed to employees that included questions concerning individuals' satisfaction with their professional duties, hopes for the future, and what would be necessary for them to continue their work after marriage and childbirth, referencing the Japanese tradition of women becoming housewives. Most women surveyed stated that they would prefer to maintain their current roles within the company, forgoing promotion in order to focus on household affairs. Daiyu Eight's policy stipulates that employees will be considered for promotion to management positions after ten years with the company. However, this timing overlaps with the age at which many female employees get married and begin having children. The rate at which women retired from Daiyu Eight after about ten years of employment was even higher than the industry average.