29 | The History of Glasses: Kimoto Glass's Challenge and the Story of Glass Manufacturing (12)

Hello🎵

Kimoto Glass's year starts on October 1st. The 2023 financial results (financial statements) will, I believe, turn out to be quite good, thanks to everyone's cooperation and support and the hard work of our employees. We still have a long way to go to the next stage, but it marks a significant milestone. Thank you very much ♪

Around 2000, with the vigor of a 50-year-old and an unfounded confidence that I knew everything about glass, we started collaborations with department stores such as Mitsukoshi, Isetan, Takashimaya, Tokyu, and Odakyu. Before that, Kimoto Glass only dealt with AEON, Matsuzakaya, and a few regional department stores. Our small company with only a few employees swelled to over a dozen, and we hastily prepared desks, lockers, and computers. That's when we began transactions with numerous partners.

Ultimately, by 2008, all department stores except Mitsukoshi and Isetan had withdrawn from our collaborations, and I caused painful experiences for the employees involved. This remains a trauma for me even now.

The biggest reason was my lack of management ability. Those around me told me that the employees' capabilities or timing were bad, but it was I who made the decisions, hired them, and advanced the business. First and foremost, I was a "playing manager" type, always thinking and acting centered around myself. I couldn't delegate tasks to others, nor could I define or delegate organizational ideas, realities, scopes of work, or responsibilities. As a result, everything ended up being half-finished, employee motivation dropped, and after only a few years of effort, we had to withdraw.

While the cause was my lack of experience, knowledge, and understanding of the world, I also failed to grasp the difference in business styles between department stores and AEON. I simply proceeded with proposals and negotiations based on good products, good conditions, and product development. However, department stores had essential conditions such as consignment sales, sales staff, and bearing fixture costs. When proposing glass product categories, the playing field was different from the start, and the business was simply not viable.

There was also the difficulty of managing people. Especially staff who had been handling the same clients for many years developed deep relationships not only with their clients but also with competitors and suppliers, making it a battle against complex factors rather than simple competition.

As someone who thinks and acts simply and impulsively, I couldn't understand this. This often led to arguments, leaving emotional scars.

There was also the fact that the times changed, with stagflation and deflation, and the distribution structure changed. The place where people bought goods shifted from department stores to supermarkets, and then from supermarkets to Uniqlo's fleece and Daiso's 100-yen stores. For more on how the distribution industry changed, please refer to the aforementioned (2023/8/21 23 - History of Glass, Kimoto Glass's Challenges and the Story of Glass Manufacturing 6).