Komehyo Holdings Co Ltd

What Komehyo Holdings Co Ltd does

Komehyo Holdings Co Ltd (株式会社コメ兵ホールディングス) is a publicly traded Japanese holding company (Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market, ticker 2780) that operates one of Japan's leading reuse and secondhand luxury goods retail platforms. Founded in 1948 in Nagoya as a pawnshop, the company transitioned through the late 20th century into a multi-format luxury reuse business spanning jewelry, watches, bags, branded apparel, sneakers, and accessories. Its core technology is a proprietary AI-based authenticity verification system (AI真贋, AI Authenticity Verification) deployed since spring 2019, which uses computer vision to distinguish genuine luxury items from counterfeits—a capability built on decades of accumulated authentication expertise. The group operates the flagship KOMEHYO (コメ兵) brand with 8 destination stores in major Japanese cities, BRAND OFF franchise and directly-operated stores across Japan and 7 Asian markets (Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Malaysia), and specialty formats including KOMEHYO VINTAGE TOKYO, Accessory Centers, Purchasing Centers, and the cross-border JV brand MEGRUS (with J. Front Retailing). The portfolio of wholly-owned operating subsidiaries includes Komehyo Co Ltd, K-BrandOff, Sheruman, Selby, RECLO (fashion reuse), 4×4 Engineering Service (automotive parts), Iv Corporation (cosmetics), Arc Marketing Japan, and the recently acquired iShopShops cross-border e-commerce platform.

The company's business model is a hybrid buy-and-sell reuse retailer: it purchases pre-owned luxury items from consumers through dedicated purchasing centers and flagship store counters, authenticates them using trained experts plus the AI verification system, then resells through flagship destination stores, franchise stores, and channel partners. Revenue is generated through the spread between purchase price (paid to sellers) and resale price (charged to buyers) across categories, supplemented by franchise fees (FC加盟店) and, more recently, cross-border e-commerce via iShopShops. In FY2025 (April 2024–March 2025) the group processed 2,041,381 resale items, contributing an avoided GHG reduction of 58,337 t-CO2eq as measured via the proprietary LCI database IDEA v3.5.1 methodology across 14 product categories. The 'Relay Use' (リレーユース) concept frames the business as circular economy infrastructure, supporting the company's positioning with environmentally conscious consumers and ESG-aligned institutional investors.

Strategically, Komehyo is in an active expansion phase: FY2025 saw a 33% volume increase over FY2024, with new flagship openings in Yokohama and Osaka (2025), entry into Thailand (Bangkok, August 2025) and Taiwan (Taichung, April 2026), the December 2025 acquisition of iShopShops, the JFR & KOMEHYO PARTNERS joint venture (signed November 2024, first MEGRUS stores opened August 2025), and ongoing subsidiary consolidation under the 2020 holding company structure. The customer base spans luxury goods consumers seeking accessible entry into premium brands, sellers monetizing unused luxury items, and sustainability-oriented buyers aligned with the circular economy narrative. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, consistent with the high-value, condition-variable nature of resale luxury transactions.

Name

Komehyo Holdings Co Ltd

Legal name

株式会社コメ兵ホールディングス (Komehyo Holdings Co Ltd)

Website

https://komehyohds.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1948

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Komehyo Holdings (TSE Prime: 2780) operates a Japanese reuse and secondhand luxury goods retail platform across 8 KOMEHYO flagship stores, hundreds of BRAND OFF franchise locations, and 7 Asian markets, using proprietary AI-based authenticity verification to buy and resell jewelry, watches, bags, and apparel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Nagoya

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Secondhand Luxury Goods Sales: Sale of pre-owned luxury items including jewelry, watches, bags, accessories, clothing, and other fashion items. Operates both flagship stores and purchase centers.
2. Brand Off Franchise Operations: Franchise model for brand purchase specialty stores (BRAND OFF) operating across Japan and internationally

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Komehyo Holdings Co Ltd is a Japanese holding company that operates a multi-brand retail platform for buying and selling pre-owned luxury goods. Its core activities include purchasing jewelry, watches, bags, accessories, and branded fashion items from consumers, authenticating and refurbishing them, and reselling them through KOMEHYO flagship stores, BRAND OFF specialty stores, purchase centers, and franchise outlets in Japan and across Asia.

Product overview

Komehyo Holdings Co Ltd operates as a leading Japanese luxury goods resale company managing a multi-brand portfolio. The core offering centers on KOMEHYO (コメ兵), the main brand for pre-owned luxury goods including jewelry, watches, bags, accessories, and fashion items. Supporting brands include BRAND OFF (ブランドオフ), K-ブランドオフ, MEGRUS, and LuxStory for international operations. The company also offers specialized concepts like KOMEHYO VINTAGE TOKYO flagship stores, KOMEHYO アクセサリーセンター for jewelry/precious metals, and KOMEHYO 買取センター convenience-format purchasing locations. AI authentication services (AI真贋) use computer vision technology for authenticity verification. Additional offerings include the ethical jewelry brand ReKKA, automotive parts service 4×4エンジニアリングサービス, and sneaker market concepts. The company handles approximately 2 million items annually, contributing to environmental sustainability through reuse, with 2025 fiscal year sales of 2,041,381 items representing 58,337 t-CO2eq in avoided GHG emissions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KOMEHYO VINTAGE TOKYO: Flagship vintage fashion retail concept
• RELAY USE
• ReKKA

Products and services

• KOMEHYO (コメ兵) Main flagship retail brand for the purchase and resale of authenticated pre-owned luxury goods including jewelry, watches, bags, accessories, and branded fashion items, targeting individual consumers in Japan.
• BRAND OFF (ブランドオフ) Specialty secondhand brand-goods purchasing and retail chain, including franchise (FC) stores, focused on branded luxury items such as jewelry, precious metals, watches, bags, and accessories.
• KOMEHYO 買取センター (KOMEHYO Purchasing Centers)

Quantifiable outcome

• GHG reduction of 58,337 t-CO2eq in FY2025 through reuse activities

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and regional.

• J. Front Retailing Co., Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 November 2024Joint venture company establishment between J. Front Retailing and subsidiary Komehyo Co., Ltd. to develop the reuse business. Komehyo Holdings announced the joint venture contract signing on November 13, 2024.
• JFR & KOMEHYO PARTNERScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 November 2023Joint venture entity operating MEGRUS brand purchase specialty stores. First and second stores opened in August 2025.
• Tayol Co., Ltd.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 October 2022Business alliance (FC contract) with Tayol Co., Ltd. for franchise store expansion.
• Selvy Co., Ltd.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 August 2022Acquisition of Selvy Co., Ltd. shares (subsidiary acquisition) for business expansion.
• Brand Off Limited (K-Brand Off)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 October 2019Sponsor support agreement and absorption-type split contract with Brand Off for business reorganization. K-Brand Off operates BRAND OFF franchise network.
• Life & Company Co., Ltd.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 September 2019Business alliance (franchise contract) with Life & Company Co., Ltd. for business expansion.
• Saha Pathana Inter-Holding Public Company LimitedregionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2018Joint venture company with Saha Pathana Inter-Holding Public Company Limited (Thailand) for Thailand operations. Joint venture company established through KOMEHYO HONG KONG LIMITED.
• Beijing Hanmeijiacheng International Cultural Investment Co., Ltd.regionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 May 2017Joint venture company established in China through KOMEHYO HONG KONG LIMITED for Chinese market operations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bookoff Corporation: Japanese reuse retail chain spanning books, media, apparel, and luxury items. Competes with Komehyo in-store traffic for secondhand shoppers and overlap in branded apparel/accessories categories.
• ThredUp: US-based online secondhand apparel and accessories resale platform. Comparable to Komehyo's reuse fashion operations (including acquired RECLO) and online-led category expansion strategy.
• The RealReal: US-based online luxury resale platform with authentication services. Comparable business model to Komehyo with online-first luxury resale and authentication-led trust, serving as a global category benchmark.
• BUYMA: Japanese cross-border fashion and luxury e-commerce platform. Comparable in cross-border luxury sourcing model relevant to Komehyo's iShopShops acquisition strategy.
• Poshmark: Social C2C marketplace for secondhand fashion, accessories, and luxury items. Comparable online resale model and adjacent target customer base for luxury reuse.
• StockX: Online resale marketplace for sneakers, watches, handbags, and luxury collectibles. Comparable authentication-led marketplace model and overlap in the sneaker and watch resale categories where Komehyo is also active.
• Vestiaire Collective: Global C2C luxury resale marketplace with strong Asian and European presence. Competes with Komehyo for cross-border luxury resale demand and seller inventory.
• Mercari: Japanese C2C marketplace that includes a substantial pre-owned luxury and fashion category. Closest at-scale Japanese secondhand platform peer; competes for the same luxury resale seller-buyer flow that Komehyo targets.
• 2nd Street (セカンドストリート): Operated by GEO Holdings, this is a major Japanese reuse retail chain offering secondhand apparel, bags, accessories, and luxury goods. Direct competitor to Komehyo in physical-store luxury reuse retail.
• Ragtag (RAGTAG / KOMEHYO VINTAGE predecessor concept operators): Japanese reuse fashion retail chain focused on branded apparel and accessories. Direct competitor to Komehyo in-store for branded fashion and vintage secondhand categories.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/komehyo-holdings-co-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Komehyo Holdings Co Ltd