1921 (Taisho 10) Thursday, December 1 Matsukiya Gofukuten, the first department store in central Aomori, opened. The founder was Isaburo KANNO. The capital was 1 million yen, which was huge at that time. Built at the intersection of Shinmachi and Yanagimachi, the three-story, 380 tsubo wooden department store has long been a popular landmark of Aomori City.
It was forced to close during World War II, but was revived in 1951 as a three-story reinforced concrete store. In 1966, it was added to a four-story reinforced concrete building, and in 1970, it was added to a six-story building with an observation deck.
In addition, we expanded to Mutsu City in 1968 and Tow 48 ada City in 1973 to increase the number of stores, but we gradually lost customers to suburban shopping centers, and our ability to attract customers declined. Towada Matsukiya closed on August 31, 1999, and its Aomori store was forced to close on April 23, 2003. On May 9 of the same year, it filed for personal bankruptcy, and on the 12th, it was declared bankrupt.
On the other hand, “Mutsu-Matsukiya” in Mutsu City, which opened in 1968, was separated from the main body in 2000 and remained as “Mutsu-Matsukiya Corporation.”. In 2012, the store opened a food section on the first floor in cooperation with Satocho, a major local supermarket. It had been pointed out that the building was not earthquake-resistant due to its age, and that it was imperfect in terms of disaster prevention. This year, a complete renovation was carried out, and on October 22, 2021, a restaurant was reopened in addition to a supermarket.
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