Aeon Co. is reconsidering its seven domestic shopping center plans in a bid to save investment in response to the current serious consumption slump, officials at the nation's largest retailer said Thursday.
It intends to cancel a plan to open a shopping center in Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 2011 and freeze another plan to launch a center in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, this spring, they said.
Openings of shopping centers scheduled for this fall will be postponed beyond the end of this year in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture; Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture; Yamato Koriyama, Nara Prefecture; Itami, Hyogo Prefecture; and Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, they said.
Expecting to see the first group net loss in seven years for the year to this month, Aeon earlier indicated the number of its shopping centers to open in 2009 and 2010 could be reduced to around six from the earlier planned 12 to 14.