Under the Radar: What’s next for COURTS now that it is under Yokohama-based Nojima Corporation?

Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

You’ll more or less notice the signage of this company if you drive along the Tampines Expressway towards the airport - rain or shine. Here’s another hint – it is located within the Tampines Retail Park along with Giant hypermart.

If you’ve guessed COURTS, then bingo, you’ve got it right. But have you ever wondered if COURTS is a Singapore or a Malaysian furniture chain or who actually owns COURTS these days? Well, we will bring you all the answers in this interview.

With roots as a furniture retailer from the UK, COURTS started operations in Singapore half a century ago in 1974 and has since expanded to 13 stores spanning over 464,000 square feet of retail space.

The firm expanded to Malaysia in 1987 and most recently ventured into the Indonesian market in 2014.

Once known as COURTS Asia Limited, the firm was previously listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange in October 2012. That was until 2019, when Yokohama-based electrical appliance retailer Nojima Corporation bought over the company’s shares.

Today, COURTS is wholly owned by Nojima Corporation, which runs over 900 stores and has a market capitalisation of S$1.8 billion on revenues of S$6.6 billion. So how has the firm changed over the years with Nojima Corporation as its parent?

Meanwhile, COURTS is also an interesting company to look at because of its efforts to refresh its offerings to target the next generation of furniture shoppers.

For one thing, the firm had in 2019 opened its first internet-of-things store at Funan to better cater to smart home shoppers. It also opened the 189,000 square feet COURTS Nojima in 2022 to provide an experiential retail space for shoppers.

But how far has the firm’s moves captured the hearts of younger consumers and what are the key drivers of growth in the furniture industry as brick and mortar chains compete against online retailers?

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Harry Higashiura, Group Chief Commercial Officer, Nojima APAC and Country CEO of Singapore and Malaysia, COURTS.

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