NEWSWORTHY
Japan convenience store chains now more flexible about operating hours
Convenience store operators released actions plans Thursday to address acute labor shortages, suggesting they have become more flexible about operating hours. "We will let the owners of (franchise stores) make the final decision" on whether to reduce business hours, Fumihiko Nagamatsu, president of Seven-Eleven Japan ...
Japan anti-trust watchdog may stop convenience chains from imposing 24-hour opening on franchises
The Fair Trade Commission is considering preventing convenience store operators from forcing franchise owners to run their outlets 24 hours a day, sources close to the matter said Wednesday. Operators unilaterally rejecting franchise holders' requests to review their business hours to cope with severe labor ...
Moves are afoot among major convenience store chains to review the uniform 24-hour operation of their stores, the standard industry practice since Seven-Eleven Japan Co. started it a year after it opened its first outlet in 1974. The sustainability of 24-hour operations came under ...
Japan's famed convenience stores look to cut opening hours amid labor shortage
Apart from culture, food and a superefficient rail system, one of the things that most impresses travelers to Japan is its convenience stores, bursting with sushi, alcohol, underwear and ready-made food available at all hours. Well, maybe not for much longer. The 24-hour konbini experience is ...
Seven-Eleven Japan to open its first stores in Okinawa on July 11
Leading convenience store operator Seven-Eleven Japan Co. will open its first outlets in Okinawa Prefecture on July 11. Opening stores in Okinawa, the only prefecture in which Seven-Eleven Japan does not have a presence, means the company will have outlets in all of the nation's ...
METI asks Japan's convenience store chains to present plans for coping with labor shortage
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko wants the eight major chains to formulate action plans because the labor shortages are straining the 24-hour industry.
Next Seven-Eleven Japan chief vows 'flexible response' as he replaces defender of 24-hour policy
Seven-Eleven Japan Co. said Thursday the convenience store operator will replace its president after its longtime 24-hour operating policy caused controversy recently amid a labor crunch that is straining the retail industry. "When it comes to operating hours, I'd like to consider a flexible response ...
FamilyMart launches facial recognition checkouts at Yokohama outlet amid Japan's labor crunch
Major convenience store operator FamilyMart Co. on Tuesday introduced checkouts that use facial recognition technology as the company looks to make adjustments amid a nationwide labor shortage. With the latest facial recognition and image analysis technologies developed by Panasonic Corp., customers at a newly opened ...
Lawson to install self-checkout service in all stores across Japan amid labor crunch
Lawson Inc. will introduce self-checkout systems in all 14,000 of its convenience stores by October to cope with Japan's chronic labor shortage and ease the burden on existing employees, company sources said Monday. Customers across the nation will process their purchases by scanning barcodes themselves ...
Major convenience store chain Lawson Inc. said Friday it will experiment with leaving stores unmanned late at night amid growing calls to modify the industry's round-the-clock operations to cope with the national labor shortage. The trial will last a few months starting this summer with ...
Culture meets convenience as Japan's konbini stores bet that books go down well with a bento
With increased competition from online stores and digital alternatives, bookstores in Japan are belatedly following their overseas brethren out of business, so convenience store chains are stepping in to cater to readers who like to peruse a page or two before they buy. Of the ...
METI tells convenience store operators to come up with plans to cope with Japan's labor crunch
The lack of workers is proving to be a huge challenge to convenience stores, which have become important cogs in the nation’s social infrastructure.
