The Strawberry King has vacated the throne; long live the new King.

For those have not heard the news,  Shintaro Tsuji, the owner, founder and driving force of Sanrio  has stepped down as CEO and handed  resigns to his grandson. Tomokuni Tsuji.

We have a lot to  thank  Mr. Tsuji for, but I feel the time for new blood has come, especially the missteps Sanrio took in closing down US retail business and over relied on big box stores like Target , Best Buy and Toys r Us to carry the load.  The  plan worked for a while until Target and Best Buy gave  Hello Kitty the boot and  replaced her with the next big thing. (out Hello Kitty: in Monster High.) In addition, the bankruptcy and liquidation of Toys r Us in the US did not help and poor service for Sanrio.com

 

NPR Story

Asahi Times Story