The encyclopedia · Finance & Accounting · Financial decision · 2007–2026
Aube (オーブ), Gunma women's clothing importer, bankrupt in 2026
Aube imported women's clothing — COVID cut orders and the weak yen raised costs, until a ¥180M bankruptcy in 2026 ended it.
Aube (株式会社オーブ) · 2026-04-10
What happened
Aube was a women's clothing importer and wholesaler in Shintō Village, Gunma Prefecture, founded in 2007. Sales peaked at about ¥290 million in the fiscal year ending June 2018.
The currency moved against the business. COVID cut orders and sales fell, then the yen's slide raised the cost of buying the clothes it sold — margins squeezed until cash flow ran out.
On 10 April 2026 the Maebashi District Court issued a bankruptcy commencement order with liabilities of about ¥180 million.
Why it happened
- A pure import model is a bet on the currency: Aube bought women's clothing abroad with yen, and the weak yen of the mid-2020s turned purchase costs into a rising tide.
- COVID first, yen second: orders collapsed during the pandemic, and just as the market should have recovered, the exchange rate made restocking unaffordable.
- No margin left to pass on: raising prices to cover import costs would have ended the sales that remained — the importer was squeezed from both sides.
The lesson
An importer lives on the exchange rate: Aube's ¥290M clothing business ran on margins that the weak yen erased — by April 2026 the Maebashi court closed it with ¥180M in debts.
Aftermath
The Maebashi District Court issued a bankruptcy order for Aube on 10 April 2026, with liabilities of about ¥180 million as of the end of the June 2025 fiscal year. The company, founded in 2007 in Shintō Village, Gunma Prefecture, imported and wholesaled women's clothing, with peak sales of about ¥290 million in the fiscal year ending June 2018. COVID cut orders and sales, and the yen's depreciation raised purchasing costs, worsening profitability until cash flow ran out. Reported 21 April 2026.
Sources
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