Japanese discount supermarket operator OK opened a store in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district Tuesday, aiming to cater to foreign tourists and restaurant operators as well as local residents.
The store is located on the first and second basement floors of the Marronnier Gate Ginza 2 shopping facility. OK hopes to boost its name recognition by placing the new branch among high-end department stores and luxury brand shops.
The Ginza store sells OK's famous deep-fried pork loin cutlet-on-rice bento box, priced at ¥299 excluding tax, as well as a more extravagant bento box using kuroge wagyu high-quality Japanese beef. It also sells a variety of prepared side dishes, baked goods and frozen foods.
"We can buy things for cheap at this shop, which is good news for our family budget," said a nearby resident, who came to the store with her family.
"There are many people in Ginza who have a good eye," OK President Ryotaro Ninomiya told reporters. "We hope the store can satisfy such people."
Marronnier Gate Ginza 2 also houses a large outlet of the Uniqlo casual clothing brand. Ninomiya said he decided to open the Ginza store after being recommended to do so by Tadashi Yanai, head of Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing.