Founder of Japanese dollar-store chain Daiso dies; he was 80

By YURI KAGEYAMA
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Hirotake Yano, who founded the 100-yen retail chain Daiso, Japan’s equivalent of the dollar store, has died. He was 80. The company said Yano died Feb. 12 of heart failure in Hiroshima. Yano founded his business as Yano Shoten in 1972. It took on the name Daiso in 1977 and opened its first 100-yen store in 1991. Daiso now runs more than 5,000 shops in 26 nations and regions. They raked in more than $4 billion in sales in the latest fiscal year. One hundred yen is equivalent to about 67 U.S. cents at current exchange rates. The stores carry some 76,000 products, ranging from stationery items and kitchen sponges to stuffed animals.