Don Quijote Co. President Takao Yasuda said Tuesday he intends to step down to take responsibility for the three employees who died earlier in the day in one of two suspicious fires that struck its outlets in Saitama Prefecture.
"All the responsibility for this incident rests with me," the company's founder told a news conference in Tokyo after a 12-hour fire gutted the discount retail chain's Urawakagetsu branch.
Don Quijote had been popular among younger customers who liked its quirky and often racy mix of merchandise, which was often displayed in a chaotic manner that lent a junglelike atmosphere to its stores, while drawing criticism that they were fire traps.
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