STORES, inc.

STORES, inc. (STORES 株式会社) is a Japanese software and platform company that develops and operates a suite of digitalization services for small and mid-sized store operators. Under the mission slogan "Just for Fun," the company says it aims to contribute to an economy driven by commitment, passion and enjoyment, and it builds software and platforms that support that economy. Its corporate site describes the business as developing and providing software and platforms that underpin a growing "enjoyment-driven" economy. The company's core offering is the STORES brand, a family of services that lets merchants open an online shop, run a POS register, accept cashless payments, take online bookings and create branded apps. By combining the individual STORES services, the company says merchants can operate their businesses more easily and efficiently and thereby grow. The company explicitly targets owners and operators of small and medium-sized stores, positioning itself as a comprehensive partner for their digital transformation rather than a single-point tool. STORES, inc. is headquartered in Ebisu, Shibuya, Tokyo, at the F-Nissei Ebisu Building. It was established on March 23, 2012, and reports revenue of 15,625 million yen for the fiscal year 2025. Its representative director and CEO is Yusuke Sato, who previously worked at Google on advertising products and was a founding member of FreakOut; co-founder Naoko Samata founded Coiney in 2012 and previously handled marketing at PayPal. The management team also includes CFO Kentaro Saito, CTO Daisuke Fujimura, COO Daisuke Sato, CPO Yuta Ide and several other executive officers, alongside outside directors. The company's history is a story of consolidation. Its roots include Bracket, Inc. (founded 2008), which released STORES.jp in 2012; Coiney, Inc. (founded 2012), which released Coiney in 2013; and Coubic, Inc. (founded 2013), which released Coubic in 2014. In 2018 Coiney and Stores.jp were brought under a common holding company, hey, Inc. In 2020 the service brands were unified under the STORES name, and in 2021 the three operating companies were absorbed into hey. The company renamed itself STORES, inc. in October 2022. It continues to expand the STORES suite, adding STORES Register in 2021, the STORES brand app in 2022 and Makitori by STORES in 2025, and it has brought additional companies such as Digitar into the group.

STORES, inc. is the product of several Japanese startup lineages that were gradually merged into a single company. One root is Bracket, Inc. (株式会社ブラケット), established on October 10, 2008. On August 30, 2012, Bracket released STORES.jp, an online shop building service that later became simply STORES. A second root is Coiney, Inc. (コイニー株式会社), established on March 23, 2012, which released the Coiney cashless payment service on April 10, 2013; Coiney later became STORES Payments. A third root is Coubic, Inc. (クービック株式会社), established on October 10, 2013, which released Coubic, an online booking service, on April 10, 2014; Coubic later became STORES Booking. Shopforce, Inc. (ショップフォース株式会社) was also established on May 22, 2012. On February 1, 2018, Coiney and the Stores.jp group were brought together under a common business holding company named hey, Inc. (ヘイ株式会社). This created a structure in which the e-commerce, payment and booking businesses sat under one roof. On January 30, 2020, the service brands were unified under the single name STORES (ストアーズ). A Sendai office was established on May 1, 2020, and Coubic, Inc. was brought into the group on August 4, 2020. On January 1, 2021, the three operating companies — Stores.jp, Coiney and Coubic — were absorbed into hey, consolidating the operation of all the services into one company. The company continued to build out the STORES suite: STORES Register (STORES レジ) was released on June 15, 2021, and Shopforce, Inc. was brought into the group on December 1, 2021. On July 7, 2022, the STORES brand app was released. On October 1, 2022, hey, Inc. changed its corporate name to STORES, inc. (STORES 株式会社), aligning the company name with its service brand. More recently, on January 20, 2025, Digitar, Inc. was brought into the group, and on May 30, 2025, Makitori by STORES was released. The company's corporate site lists revenue of 15,625 million yen for the fiscal year 2025. In 2026 the company renewed its logo design and continued to roll out merchant-facing initiatives, including a special cashless payment consultation desk and free STORES payment terminals for Zentoshin member stores, and a service called Omakase Start that handles system setup on behalf of merchants.

• Bracket, Inc. (株式会社ブラケット) established

• Coiney, Inc. (コイニー株式会社) established

• Shopforce, Inc. (ショップフォース株式会社) established

• Bracket releases STORES.jp (now STORES)

• Coiney releases Coiney (now STORES Payments)

• Coubic, Inc. (クービック株式会社) established

• Coubic releases Coubic (now STORES Booking)

• Coiney and Stores.jp group integrated; hey, Inc. established as business holding company

• Service brands unified under STORES

• Sendai office established

• Coubic, Inc. brought into the group

• Stores.jp, Coiney and Coubic absorbed into hey, consolidating service operations

• STORES Register (STORES レジ) released

• Shopforce, Inc. brought into the group

• STORES brand app released

• hey, Inc. renamed STORES, inc.

• Digitar, Inc. brought into the group

• Makitori by STORES released

• STORES renews its logo design

• STORES launches Omakase Start setup service

• STORES Payments begins offering Printer Dock

Comprehensive digitalization partner for small and mid-sized store operators in Japan, offering an integrated suite of commerce, payment, booking and app services under the STORES brand.

• STORES

  Online shop building service for merchants, originally released as STORES.jp.

• STORES Payments

  Cashless payment service, originally released as Coiney.

• STORES Register

  POS register service released in 2021.

• STORES Booking

  Online reservation system, originally released as Coubic.

• STORES Brand App

  Branded app creation service released in 2022.

• Makitori by STORES

  Service released in 2025.

1. 1STORES 株式会社 コーポレートサイトst.inc
2. 2会社情報｜STORES 株式会社st.inc
3. 3STORES, inc. - Wikidatawikidata.org