NEWSWORTHY
Phan Hoang Tu Linh feels she has gotten the hang of working in a Japanese convenience store now, but she admits she found it tough at first. "We have three cash registers in our store but only two lines to wait in," says the 23-year-old ...
Japan's convenience store sales post first decline in five months
Sales at convenience stores fell in October for the first time in five months, down 1.5 percent from a year earlier due to declining demand for tobacco products after a tax increase, an industry body said Tuesday. Same-store sales for seven major convenience store operators, ...
Japan's convenience stores seek to boost sales with bookstore tie-ups
At a FamilyMart store that opened in Ogi, Saga Prefecture, in August, rows of bookshelves occupy a space next to an ordinary shopping area. In an eat-in section, customers read books and browse magazines they bought at the store. The outlet is the first of ...
Convenience store chain Lawson Inc. said Friday it will launch a banking business in October using its existing network of more than 13,000 automated teller machines nationwide. Its subsidiary Lawson Bank earned a license to start the business from the Financial Services Agency the same ...
Toyota might turn driverless vehicles into mobile convenience stores and cafes
Toyota Motor Corp. is considering a plan to turn self-driving vehicles into unmanned mobile convenience stores in cooperation with Seven-Eleven Japan Co., sources close to the matter said Friday. Under the plan, the autonomous electric vehicles would carry Seven-Eleven products to bring self-service convenience to ...
Japan promotes use of electronic tags over barcodes in bid to boost productivity
The industry ministry is stepping up efforts to introduce electronic tags, aiming to improve productivity in the retail sector in the face of an acute labor shortage. The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has concluded an agreement with Seven-Eleven Japan Co., FamilyMart Co., Lawson Inc. ...
Let's discuss that Seven-Eleven that was forced to stay open in a blizzard
This week's featured article KYODO The owner of a Seven-Eleven convenience store in Fukui Prefecture was allegedly forced to work for about 50 hours without sleep in February after the chain rejected his requests to suspend business amid the heaviest snowfall in decades, a labor ...
Seven-Eleven to start automatic check-in service for P2P lodging rentals
Seven-Eleven Japan Co. will launch an automated check-in service for minpaku (private lodging businesses) that allows guests to collect and leave room keys 24 hours a day, the convenience store chain said. The service, Convenience Front Desk 24, will begin at some Seven-Eleven stores in ...
Convenience store operators are focusing more on selling healthy bento meals and prepared foods using plenty of vegetables or fewer food additives. With increases in double-income and elderly households that prefer prepared meals as opposed to home-cooked fare, companies hope to shed the unhealthy image ...
Lawson chief bets on health, tech as future of convenience
Back in 2014, Sadanobu Takemasu was asked by his boss to go to Lawson, the convenience store chain known for its white milk can logo on a blue signboard. Takemasu thought Ken Kobayashi, then president of Japan's largest trading house, Mitsubishi Corp., was suggesting he ...
