Royal sold Z-CRAFT shoes and apparel for 50 years — then the costs caught up

Royal Co. was a Nagoya-based importer and wholesaler of casual apparel and shoes, founded in 1972 and incorporated in 1973. It operated the Z-CRAFT and Z-MALL store brands — a chain of casual footwear and apparel shops inside mass retailers, shopping malls, and street-front locations in Nagoya's Sakae district — alongside a wholesale business supplying third-party retailers and an ecommerce operation.

For decades Royal enjoyed steady growth, peaking at ¥17.9 billion in sales in 1997. The business recovered to a second peak of ¥13.3 billion in fiscal 2023. But the recovery was fragile: rising import costs, intensifying competition from fast fashion and direct-to-consumer brands, and the overhead of a physical retail fleet squeezed margins. By fiscal 2024, revenue had fallen to ¥11.3 billion and the company posted a net loss of ¥576 million.

From autumn 2024, Royal attempted private restructuring — approaching its 16 creditor banks to renegotiate repayment terms. The negotiations dragged on and ultimately failed. On May 27, 2025, Royal filed for civil rehabilitation at the Tokyo District Court with total liabilities of approximately ¥9.3 billion. The court issued a supervision order the same day. In October 2025, Kabutec signed as sponsor and acquired Royal's business through a company split.