The chairman and founder of Japanese retail chain Don Quijote is a Sentosa Cove resident.

Takao Yasuda, 68, retired in 2015 and relocated to Singapore with his wife.

They bought a S$21.25 million house on Sentosa Cove. It is registered under Yasuda's wife's name.

Most exclusive real estate

The villa is along Lakeshore View.

It fronts the Serapong Golf Course, with views of the lake and overlooking the sea. Its built-up area is around 8,500 sq ft, spanning two storeys, an attic and a basement.

The house has four bedrooms, a study and a pool.

The villa is on a site with a balance lease term of 87 years.

Lakeshore View is one of the most exclusive spots on Sentosa Cove with its own security gantry.

The couple buying a home and establishing a base in Singapore is an indication of future regional expansion.

Yasuda has a net worth of S$2.2 billion.

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Singapore's prices expensive

Yasuda brought his beloved retail store to Singapore because he said he was shocked by the prices here.

“I was surprised to see how expensive things were in Singapore -- what is one dollar in Japan is sometimes two or three dollars in Singapore,” the 68-year-old said during an interview with The Straits Times at his office at Marina Bay Financial Centre.

The first 1,397 sq m store in Singapore, called Don Don Donki, opened on Dec. 1, 2017 at Orchard Central.

The chain is known as Don Quijote elsewhere, because a restaurant with that name already exists here in Dempsey Road.

Don Quijote history

Yasuda is the king of flipping. He has developed a retail empire from buying low and still selling low -- but selling a lot.

His first foray into retail in 1978 saw him selling anything from electronics to groceries.

When he first started out, he would go directly to manufacturers and warehouses to find things he could buy at a cheap price to sell in his 70 sq m store.

His retail philosophy includes packing displays, round-the-clock opening hours and stocking a huge variety of inventory.

He gained his insights into consumer mentality from working in his own store when he first started out.

Yasuda opened his first Don Quijote store in Fuchu, Tokyo in 1989.

Don Quijote stores are open 24 hours because passers-by who saw him stocking goods at night previously thought the store was still open.

The aisles are maze-like to give the illusion of endless supply and hide surprises.

Yasuda was the first to collect information on firms that were about to go bankrupt. He took the opportunity to seize their inventories of disposed-of goods and samples to sell in his own stores.

Young employees in the company are now delegated tasked to price items and stock inventory.

The 28-year-old brand has more than 360 stores globally located in Japan, the United States and Singapore.

Contrarian streak

The charismatic maverick said he spent most of his college years playing mahjong and had little interest in his studies.

He still graduated with a law degree from Keio University in Tokyo in 1973.

But he knew he was good at selling things.

He hopes to have at least 10 stores in Singapore by 2022 and see a doubling of the company’s sales figures over the same time-frame.

He is also known as a prolific night owl who goes to bed at 3am and wakes at 10am.

Customers first

In a 2004 Japan Times article, Yasuda, who described himself as “naturally perverse,” said it is not likely he will ever lose his penchant for a challenge.

An extreme example of Yasuda’s deference to his customers is the stores’ wide array of sex toys.

When the company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1999, there were suggestions he should abandon such racy products.

“No — businesses that ignore the nether regions are wrong,” he said. “It’s a very sacred matter. Anyway, it goes against our customer-first principle.”

His Singapore store had stocked the sex toys products initially, but have since been moved to the online store.

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