Mandom - History

History

In 1927 Shinpachiro Nishimura founded the Kintsuru Perfume Corporation. After the success from releasing a pomade called the Tancho Stick in 1933, Kintsuru Perfume Corp. began to focus its future efforts in men's care. By 1959, the success of the Tancho Stick led the company to change its name to Tancho Corporation.

Tancho's efforts with expanding outside of Japan was further boosted in 1970 when the company launched a new line of highly successful men's care products, called Mandom, which took its name from a combination of the words "Human" and "Freedom". An innovative advertising campaign featuring Charles Bronson became the first of a long series of Japanese ads to feature top Hollywood stars. Tancho then changed its name again, to Mandom Corporation, in 1971.

In 1976, Mandom's success and the creation of their flagship brand, Gatsby, encouraged them to move into direct sales of their products. However, despite the success of the Gatsby brand, the moving to direct retail sales was disastrous for Mandom. By 1980, the company was had no choice but to give up the direct sales model and return to wholesale distribution.

Mandom went public in 1988, selling shares on the Tokyo exchange's over-the-counter market. In 1989, Mandom introduces Lucido, a new cosmetic line for women. Into the early 2000s, Mandom wanted to continue to seek out new product markets. They decided to expand its international presence further by establishing the Gatsby and Lucido brands as its flagship global brands.