Zootie recovered online after COVID closed its stores — then the costs caught up anyway

Zootie was a Kobe-based women's casual apparel and fashion accessories company founded in 2002. It operated the Easacca Mania Stores brand, selling clothing, bags, shoes, hats and accessories to young women through physical stores, its own ecommerce site, and major online malls including Rakuten. At its peak, annual sales exceeded ¥4 billion.

The company hit trouble in 2018 when logistics disruptions and a contraction of its physical store network hurt revenue. COVID-19 dealt a further blow as stores were forced to close. Zootie responded by shifting entirely to online sales, partnering with influencers, and eventually recovered its revenue to the ¥3-4 billion range — a near-full recovery by top line.

But the recovery was built on borrowed money. Past losses had forced heavy bank borrowing, and COVID-era loans needed repaying. The yen's depreciation drove up the cost of goods manufactured in China. Rising procurement, promotion and logistics costs ate into margins. On April 15, 2025, Zootie suspended operations and instructed attorneys; on June 6, the Kobe District Court ordered bankruptcy proceedings. Total liabilities were approximately ¥2 billion for Zootie alone, and ¥3 billion across its four-company group including Ark, Loop and Loop Logistics.