He was 93 years old. He founded the first convenience store in 1974
Toshifumi Suzuki, a key figure in modern Japanese retailing and the architect of the global expansion of 7-Eleven convenience stores, has died at the age of 93.
The former president and CEO of Seven & i Holdings passed away on May 18 from heart failure, the group announced, which in a statement expressed “deep gratitude” for the contribution he made during his professional life. Born in 1932 in Nagano Prefecture, Suzuki began his career in the publishing sector at Tokyo Shuppan Hanbai, before arriving in 1963 at Ito-Yokado, one of the main Japanese large-scale retail outlets. It was here that, with the support of founder Masatoshi Ito, he developed the project destined to radically change consumer habits in Japan. In 1974, the first 7-Eleven store in the country opened in the Toyosu district of Tokyo, introducing a commercial model then unknown to the Japanese market: small shops open long hours, focused on speed, proximity and continuous rotation of products. Suzuki then took over the leadership of Seven-Eleven Japan in 1978, accompanying the widespread growth of the chain throughout the national territory.
