なかなか 創業者の青井忠治氏の銅像あり、青井一族について、ウィキペディアで調べてみました。青井氏は2歳で麻疹で失明し、10歳で母を11歳で父を亡くし、地元の富山県の高校を卒業後、月賦販売の丸ニ商会に就職。その後、独立して、丸二の丸と青井の井をとって丸井を創立。月賦百貨店の草分けとして、中野を中心(現在の本所所在地)に店舗展開していったとのこと。1960年(昭和35年)に月賦を初めてクレジットと言い換え、日本で初めてクレジットカードを発行。景気は自らつくるものという哲学をお持ちだったとのことで、素晴らしいですね。同氏の孫には、元NHKアナウンサーの青井実氏、青井実氏の実兄の嫁は山岸舞彩氏がいる。ふらっと本社に寄ってみましたが、いろいろ、勉強になりました。
There is a bronze statue of the founder, Chuji Aoi, and I looked up the Aoi family on Wikipedia. Aoi became blind from measles at the age of 2, lost his mother at the age of 10 and his father at the age of 11. After graduating from high school in his hometown of Toyama Prefecture, he got a job at the installment sales company Maruni Shokai. He then went independent and founded Marui, taking the names of Maru-Nino-Maru and Aoi-No-I from Aoi. As a pioneer of installment department stores, he expanded his stores mainly in Nakano (where the head office is currently located). In 1960 (Showa 35), he changed installment to credit for the first time and issued the first credit card in Japan. He had a philosophy that one creates ones own economy, which is wonderful. His grandson is former NHK announcer Minoru Aoi, and Minoru Aois older brother is married to Maya Yamagishi. I stopped by the head office on a whim and learned a lot.