A Japanese major furniture sailor “Otuka
Kagu(Kagu means furniture)” held its shareholders’ meeting the other day. The
company was established by Mr. Katsuhisa Otuka and now run by his eldest
daughter, Kumiko Otsuka.
Katsuhisa adopted a business model where
staff is accompany with customers while they see around the shop. He made much
of selling high-priced luxurious furniture. However, Kumiko changed the policy
and tried to make the store more open such as Nitori or IKEA.
Katsuhisa and Kumiko gradually confronted
against each other and Kumiko made Katsuhisa resigned from the board of
directors. As Katsuhisa is the most major shareholder, he proposed a new management
and tried to pull her down.
As the result of proxy fight, Kumiko won
the general shareholders’ trust and won the fight. She remains president of the
company but Katsuhisa remains the major shareholder occupying 18% of the total
too.
I personally agree to her opinion and
support her idea that it is necessary to strengthen the corporate governance of
the company. As a customer, I and my wife have visted Otuka Kagu several times
and has bought some furnitures at Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo.
At the time (maybe 10 years ago), as
Katsuhisa adoped the said system, a staff was following us while seeing around
the store. For us, it was a bit uncomfortable and awkward because we could not
have a private talk as the staff was nearby and also, we felt pressure that we
need to buy something.
After that experience, we have never
visited Otsuka Kagu again. It is not that we hate Otuka Kagu. But we are more
interested in IKEA or other boutiques. I hope Kumiko lead the company to the
right way and regain both customer’s trust and profit.
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