The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1997–2025
Mills International, a Yokosuka perfume importer that sold ¥3.2B a year, bankrupt in 2025
A Yokosuka perfume importer founded in 1997, Mills International stopped business in Feb 2025 and self-bankrupted with about ¥987M of debt.
Mills International Ltd. · 有限会社ミルズインターナショナル · 2025-02-24
What happened
Mills International (有限会社ミルズインターナショナル), based in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, was founded in 1997 to import and sell perfumes from overseas brands. It sold through wholesale and through e-commerce malls such as Rakuten and Amazon.
The company grew steadily, posting sales of more than ¥3.2 billion in the year ending September 2024.
But competition in the perfume market eroded its profit margins, and the weak yen sharply raised the cost of the overseas goods it imported. The twin pressure of falling margins and rising purchase prices pushed the business into insolvency.
On February 24, 2025, Mills International stopped business and entered self-bankruptcy, with liabilities of about ¥987 million. Bankruptcy proceedings were later finalized at the Yokohama District Court's Yokosuka branch in December 2025.
Why it happened
- Competition in the perfume market kept driving down profit margins on the imported brands it resold.
- The weak yen sharply raised purchase prices, so the cost of goods rose just as the selling margin was shrinking.
- A wholesale-plus-marketplace model left little pricing power, so it could not pass the higher import costs on to buyers.
- Founded in 1997 on overseas label resale, the company had no margin buffer when both ends moved against it at once.
The lesson
A reseller of imported goods is squeezed from both ends: Mills' perfume margins fell under competition while the weak yen raised import costs, and with no pricing power the gap closed the company.
Aftermath
On February 24, 2025, Mills International stopped business and entered self-bankruptcy with liabilities of about ¥987 million. The Yokohama District Court's Yokosuka branch issued a bankruptcy commencement order in December 2025, with debt near ¥1 billion. The Yokosuka firm, founded in 1997, had sold overseas perfumes through wholesale and e-commerce malls, reaching more than ¥3.2 billion in annual sales before competition and the weak yen ended it.
Sources
- Fukeiki (不景気.com) — Mills International (有限会社ミルズインターナショナル), Yokosuka perfume importer, self-bankruptcy, ~¥987M debt (Feb 2025)
- 神奈川新聞 カナロコ — ミルズインターナショナル破産手続き開始決定, 横浜地裁横須賀支部, 負債約1億円 (Jan 2026)
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