Shogyokai Publishing

Shogyokai Publishing Co., Ltd. (株式会社商業界, The Shogyokai Publishing Co.,Ltd.) was a Japanese publishing house headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, dedicated to books and magazines about retailing, distribution, and store management. Founded in 1948, it built its identity around the monthly magazine Shogyokai (商業界), whose guiding idea was that "the store exists for the customer" (店は客のためにある). Over the decades it expanded into a family of trade titles — Hanbai Kakushin (販売革新, launched 1963), Shokuhin Shogyo (食品商業, 1972), and Fashion Hanbai (ファッション販売, 1976) — alongside the long-running Nihon Super Meikan (日本スーパー名鑑) supermarket directory, first published in 1962. Beyond print, the company ran the web media outlet Shogyokai Online (商業界オンライン), opened in 2017, and operated an education business that included seminars for store staff and store managers and a school for developing management executives. Its mission was to spread the techniques and spirit of commerce widely across Japan's retail sector. The publisher's peak came in the fiscal year ending June 1996, when sales reached roughly 2.1 billion yen. From the 2010s onward, the publishing recession hit hard: sales fell to about 1.25 billion yen in the fiscal year ending June 2010 and to roughly 700 million yen in the fiscal year ending June 2019, while excess liabilities grew to about 329 million yen. On March 31, 2020, the company dismissed all employees and announced a suspension of business on its official website; on April 2, 2020, the Tokyo District Court issued a bankruptcy commencement decision. According to the credit research firm Tokyo Shoko Research, total liabilities were about 880 million yen. The corporate entity was dissolved on July 2, 2021. A related company, Shogyokai Kaikan Co., Ltd., which operated the former headquarters building, continued to exist.

Shogyokai Publishing was founded in 1948 as a publisher of trade magazines for the distribution and retail industries. Its founding magazine, the monthly Shogyokai (商業界), was launched the same year and became the anchor of the company's identity, promoting the idea that "the store exists for the customer" and reporting on shops and merchants across Japan to provide information useful for business. Through the postwar decades the company broadened its portfolio. In 1962 it began publishing the Nihon Super Meikan (日本スーパー名鑑), a directory covering major supermarket and chain-store information in Japan. It added the monthly Hanbai Kakushin (販売革新) in 1963, covering corporate strategies, industry trends, and new-store information across various chain-store formats; the monthly Shokuhin Shogyo (食品商業) in 1972, specialized for food supermarkets and offering practical knowledge and food-industry information; and the monthly Fashion Hanbai (ファッション販売) in 1976, aimed at sales staff and managers in apparel shops and clothing departments, focusing on customer-service techniques and corporate strategy. It also published the monthly Inshokuten Keiei (飲食店経営) from 1975 and Konbini (コンビニ) from 1998, both of which were later transferred to R.I.C. Co., Ltd. — Inshokuten Keiei in 2015 and Konbini in 2016. Alongside publishing, Shogyokai ran an education business: seminars to train store staff and store managers, and a school to develop management executives, with the stated purpose of broadly enlightening people about the techniques and spirit of commerce. In 2017 it opened the web media outlet Shogyokai Online (商業界オンライン). Financially, the company peaked in the fiscal year ending June 1996, when sales reached about 2.1 billion yen. The publishing recession of the 2010s reversed its fortunes: sales fell to about 1.25 billion yen in the fiscal year ending June 2010 and to roughly 700 million yen in the fiscal year ending June 2019, while excess liabilities expanded to about 329 million yen. On March 31, 2020, the company dismissed all employees and announced on its official website that it was suspending business. On April 2, 2020, the Tokyo District Court issued a bankruptcy commencement decision. According to the credit research company Tokyo Shoko Research, total liabilities amounted to about 880 million yen. The corporate entity was dissolved on July 2, 2021. The affiliated company Shogyokai Kaikan Co., Ltd., which operated the former headquarters building known as Shogyokai Kaikan, survived and continued its business.

• 2021

  Corporate entity dissolved on July 2, 2021.

• 2020

  On March 31 all employees dismissed and business suspension announced; on April 2 Tokyo District Court issues bankruptcy commencement decision.

• 2019

  Sales fall to about 700 million yen in the fiscal year ending June 2019; excess liabilities reach about 329 million yen.

• 2017

  Web media outlet Shogyokai Online (商業界オンライン) opened.

• 2010

  Sales fall to about 1.25 billion yen in the fiscal year ending June 2010.

• 1998

  Magazine Konbini (コンビニ) launched (later transferred to R.I.C. in 2016).

• 1996

  Peak sales of about 2.1 billion yen in the fiscal year ending June 1996.

• 1976

  Monthly Fashion Hanbai (ファッション販売) launched.

• 1975

  Monthly Inshokuten Keiei (飲食店経営) launched (later transferred to R.I.C. in 2015).

• 1972

  Monthly Shokuhin Shogyo (食品商業) launched.

• 1963

  Monthly Hanbai Kakushin (販売革新) launched.

• 1962

  Begins publishing Nihon Super Meikan (日本スーパー名鑑).

• 1948

  Company founded; monthly magazine Shogyokai launched.

A specialist trade publisher and educator for Japan's retail, distribution, and chain-store industries.

• 1948

  月刊『商業界』

• 1963

  月刊『販売革新』

• 1972

  月刊『食品商業』

• 1976

  月刊『ファッション販売』

• 1962

  『日本スーパー名鑑』

• 『すぐ分かるハンドブック』シリーズ

• 2017

  商業界オンライン

• 1975

  『飲食店経営』

• 1998

  『コンビニ』

1. 1Shogyokai Publishing — Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2商業界 — Wikipedia (Japanese)ja.wikipedia.org