The small retail shop a Japanese immigrant launched at the edge of the Amazon rain forest in 1950 has blossomed into an astounding commercial success.
The Y.Yamada Group now encompasses a network of 14 retail and wholesale companies that run 20 department stores, two farms, a tour agency, 13 supermarkets, four shoe stores, an import and export enterprise, and two warehouses.
The group employs 5,000 people in northern Brazil, with sales soaring from 380 million real ($152 million) in 1999 to 497 million real in 2001.
Behind the Y.Yamada Group's commercial success lies an ingenious credit system that the late Yoshio Yamada, founder of the Y.Yamada empire, pioneered in the Amazon forest for the indigenous people.