Established in 1611 in Nagoya by Sukemichi "Ranmaru" Itō [ja], it is one of the oldest department stores in the world. It was initially a modest wholesale manufactory of silk kimono and Japanese lacquerware. In 1736 the company expanded its business to the retail sale of cotton and linen kimono. A second store was opened in Kyoto in 1745. The old capital was at that time the only region producing high-quality kimono.[citation needed]
With the industrialisation during the Meiji era, Matsuzakaya store was changed in 1910 to a western-style department store. In 1924, its Ginza branch became the first department store in Japan where customers could keep their shoes on everywhere inside the store (before that, people had to leave their shoes at the cloakroom).[2] In 1931 a centre for textile art was opened in the Kyoto branch. Between 1931-1939, a remarkable collection of kimono came together with the work of dye craftsmen, antique dealers, and private collectors.
Formerly there was a branch at Patterson Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong; this was the second Hong Kong branch, the first being when the Japanese Military Government of Hong Kong renamed and transferred Lane Crawford to Matsuzakaya. The branch in Paris had to close when the Japanese economy started cooling in the late 1980s. The store in Yokohama had to close in 2008.[3]
