Founder of Daiso, Japan's dollar-store chain, dies; he was 80

Hirotake Yano, who founded the retail chain Daiso known for 100-yen shops, Japan’s equivalent of the dollar store, has died

TOKYO -- Hirotake Yano, who founded the retail chain Daiso known for 100-yen shops, Japan’s equivalent of the dollar store, has died. He was 80.

Yano died Feb. 12 of heart failure, Daiso Industries Co. said in a statement Monday.

Yano founded his business as Yano Shoten in 1972, changing the name to Daiso in 1977. The discount retailer began working with 100 yen stories in the 1980s and opened the first one under the Daiso name in 1991. Daiso now runs more than 5,000 shops in 26 nations and regions, raking in more than 580 billion yen ($4 billion) in sales over the latest fiscal year.

One hundred yen is equivalent to about 67 American cents at current exchange rates.

The stores carry some 76,000 products, ranging from stationery items and kitchen sponges to stuffed animals and hair care, as well as nuts and dried fruit and cosmetics, according to Daiso.