Hosaya, currently president of Fukuoka-based, Isetan-owned department store Iwataya Mitsukoshi, starts his new role on April 1. The company’s current president, director and chairman Toshihiko Sugie will retire, Senken Shimbun reported.

Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings owns 25 department stores in and outside of Japan, in addition to businesses in financing and real estate. In 2011, Isetan and Mitsukoshi merged to form the current entity; its flagship locations, Isetan Shinjuku Main Store, Mitsukoshi Nihombashi Main Store and Mitsukoshi Ginza Store, are all located in Tokyo.

Like many Japanese retailers, the group has been slow to digitise but has been pushed to do so amid the pandemic. The sector, which relies heavily on Chinese tourist spend, is still suffering: January sales fell 29.7 percent on a same-store basis from a year earlier — the 16th consecutive monthly decline — the Japan Department Store Association said Thursday.