From the Editor
  • Hisao Nagata is the founder and chairman of Trial Holdings, a discount supermarket chain with interests in retail IT and developing AI systems. His son Hiroyuki is a director.
  • Nagata's father, Oumi, opened a thrift store called Asahiya in 1974 in Fukuoka, which Hisao took over in 1981. Three years later, he changed the name to Trial Company and also started a software developer focusing on retail.
  • Trial has developed technology to decrease labor costs and increase efficiency, including self-checkout shopping carts and AI-powered cameras to gather shopper behavior data and monitor inventory.
  • Trial has over 300 stores in Japan and posted $4.6 billion in revenue in the fiscal year ended in June 2024.
  • In March 2024, Trial was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Growth bourse.
Personal Stats
Age
69
Source of Wealth
Retail
Residence
Fukuoka, Japan
Citizenship
Japan
Did you know
The first Trial discount store opened in 1992.
Nagata has written books on retail AI and digitization, including one in 2022 titled 'How to Win the Retail Digital Transformation.'
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