[Miyagi] Sakurano Sendai store closed! ? Trace its rise and fall

February 26, 2017.

The history of a company that continued to monitor the development of Sendai after the war has come to an end. We would like to look back on the rise and fall of Sakurano Sendai Store, which has been running alongside Sendai Station for 70 years since its founding.

Source: Wikipedia

Maruko era

1946. In front of Sendai station.

MARUMITSU DEPT. STORE has opened in a prime location that was burnt down in the Sendai air raid. Maruhika, which later became Sakurano Department Store, began as a general store.

It began operations as a department store in 1953. Approximately 12 years later, the store achieved a floor area larger than that of its competitors, Fujisaki Department Store and Tokyo's major department store Mitsukoshi. It has become a department store with the largest sales floor area in Sendai.

It was also in this year that Tohoku's first music siren was introduced. The music box music of ``Kojo no Tsuki'' echoed in front of Sendai Station four times at 10:00 a.m., noon, 3:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. At 9 p.m., employees played the songs ``Konomichi'' and ``Ieji'' directly on the keyboard, and it became something of a Sendai specialty.

Duck City Maruhika, Sendai VIVRE era

In 1978, Marumitsu and four other companies, including Kanenaga Takeda Department Store, established a department store association with the support of Nichii (currently Mycal), and in 1985, the company name was changed to Duck City Co., Ltd. and the store name was changed to Duck City Marumitsu. change. Furthermore, we formed a business alliance with VIVRE, a fashion building developed by Nichii, and Sendai VIVRE was born in 1991.

Following the company name, the characters "Maruko" disappeared from the store name as well, marking the end of the 45-year history of Maruko, which began in 1946.

However, Sendai VIVRE's management was not smooth.

In 1998, the name was changed from Duck City to Duck Vivre.
Three years later, parent company Mycal finally went bankrupt. As a result of this, Duck Vivre will be filing for civil rehabilitation proceedings. And Sakurano Department Store was born.

Sakurano Department Store era

Even after being reborn as Sakurano Department Store, management was extremely difficult.

However, in 2004, they expanded the underground food section to the Sakurano Gochisoukan, and in 2005 they renovated it to introduce a large number of new brands.

Even after the business split in 2005 and the company name change to Emarche in 2010, the store name remained ``Sakurano Department Store Sendai''.

In 2010, the 7th and 8th floors were rented out to Book Off, and in November 2012, H&M opened its first store in Tohoku with a sales floor area of ​​2,000 square meters. It was hoped that the image of Sakurano Department Store, which had traditionally been visited by many elderly people, would change with the opening of H&M.

In 2016, a big thanksgiving festival was held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the company's founding, and during the festival they put on a stylish performance reminiscent of those days, including the revival of the music siren "Konomichi" for the first time in about 30 years.

However, the next year, February 26, 2017.

Emarche filed for bankruptcy proceedings at the Sendai District Court. The curtain has come down on 70 years of history.

Current status of Sakurano Sendai store (March 2017)

Sakurano after bankruptcy.

As of March 2017, the Sakurano Sendai store is open to a large tenant, so you can walk through some parts of the store.

It was difficult to remember the glorious times from the empty interior. However, there was definitely a department store here that made Sendai's history.

Now, I would like to express my gratitude to the Sakurano Sendai store, which has survived these turbulent times.

Please note that all Sakurano stores except the Sendai store are currently open. Please rest assured that Eikyufumetsu points from the Sakurano Point Card and Sakurano Saison Card can be used at participating stores.

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