Toshifumi Suzuki, Pioneer Of Japan Convenience Stores 7-Eleven, Dies At 93

TOKYO, May 25 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Toshifumi Suzuki, an honorary advisor to Seven & i Holdings Co. who pioneered Japan's convenience store industry, died of heart failure on May 18, the company said Monday. 

He was 93, Kyodo News reported.

The company’s charismatic former chairman and chief executive officer was credited with bringing the 7-Eleven brand to Japan and growing it into one of the most successful convenience store chains in the world.

Suzuki was born in Nagano Prefecture in central Japan on Dec 1, 1932.

After graduating from Chuo University in 1956, he joined major book distributor Tokyo Shuppan Hanbai, currently Tohan Corp. and later changed careers to Ito-Yokado Co. in 1963.

Backed by Masatoshi Ito, the group's founder, Suzuki launched a 7-Eleven outlet in Japan in 1974, the country's first convenience store in the Toyosu area of Tokyo.

He became the president of Seven-Eleven Japan Co. in 1978.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO