BOOKOFF will continue to evolve

Company founder Takashi Sakamoto opened the first outlet of BOOKOFF on a small space of 35 tsubo (116m²) in a residential area of Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture on May 2, 1990.
In the store, a large number of bestsellers at the time, including the novels of Yoshimoto Banana and the polemic The Japan That Can Say No, were cleaned and put on display. Energetic staff asked customers to sell their books based on simple, uniform criteria, and in doing so revolutionized the image of secondhand bookstores and earned overwhelming support. (The Company was the first to ask customers “Please sell us your books,” instead of saying, “We will buy your books at high prices.”)
Since then, BOOKOFF has expanded its network of bookstores throughout Japan, created a new behavior pattern-in which people sell books that they have read and then use the money they earn to buy new books-and helped to expand the base of Japan’s reading culture.
Over 200 million books are circulated annually through BOOKOFF stores from people who have read them to people who want to read them.

The Company is now the leader in the book reuse market with a market share of 60.9% (in 2005).
We are increasing our outlets, especially in urban areas, and believe that there still is capacity up to 1,500 stores in Japan.
Meanwhile, we are striving to change the quality of BOOKOFF outlets so that they become stores where people can choose books more easily, find more items, and feel comfortable. Beginning with the BOOKOFF store in front of Jiyugaoka station, which opened in the autumn of 2006, we are developing a new type of store where an in-store cafe, jazz sounds, and POP signs attract attention.
In the summer of 2007, BOOKOFF online, operated by a wholly owned subsidiary, commenced operation. We will pursue synergy with our nationwide network of stores while developing our home delivery service, which receives orders mostly via the Internet.

Aiming to become the number-one comprehensive reuse company

The BOOKOFF Group aims to become the top comprehensive reuse company in ten years, dealing not only in books and CDs but also in children’s goods, women’s clothing, sports equipment, miscellaneous goods, accessories, and other products.
We have already opened more than 100 specialty stores, including B KIDS and B SPORTS stores, which deal in used products. We are also opening our Secondhand Complexes, which combine specialty stores and a large BOOKOFF store are combined, as well as B’s Basic stores, or comprehensive suburban secondhand goods stores. By developing an array of stores each suited to their location, we aim to acquire the largest market share in the comprehensive reuse market, which is growing in both scale and social significance.

Strength in people

Our strength likes in our people, and their knowledge and capabilities. We maintain the corporate culture that we established at our formation, and which rewards those who work on behalf of others. Most of our employees are store managers. The Company is formed by a team of true leaders who consider seriously the growth and happiness of part-time workers in our stores and bring out the best in them.
We believe that three elements form the key success factors in the reuse market. These elements are our people, our extensive manuals and training systems, and our ability to develops operations systematically. We will continue to concentrate our management resources on these elements.

Our management philosophy, “Contribute to local society through the active conduct of business” and “Provide opportunities for the material and intellectual growth of all our employees,” are etched in the minds of all our employees, accelerating both the growth of the individual and the Company, and will be the roadmap for the next 100 years of our Group.

We hope that we can continue to count on your guidance and support.

Hiroshi Sato,
President and CEO