Food & Drink | KONBINI WATCH Jul 6, 2019
Convenience store stars for July: Cream puffs, doughnuts and iced soda floats
by Patrick St. Michel
Green tea, lemon and Makoto Shinkai's film "Weathering With You"-themed fruit-flavored soda drinks all hit convenience stores shelves this month.
Business / Corporate Jun 25, 2019
Ministop begins charging for plastic bags at two Chiba stores
Major convenience store operator Ministop Co. started an experiment this week to charge for plastic bags at two of its stores in Chiba Prefecture amid heightened environmental awareness worldwide and the government's policy to ban free plastic bags. The experiment began Monday at two stores ...
National / Media | BIG IN JAPAN Jun 8, 2019
Japan's convenience stores work hard to stay relevant
by Mark Schreiber
Ride the Seibu Shinjuku Line to Iriso Station in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, and you can enjoy shopping at Japan's oldest franchise convenience store, a Family Mart that opened in September 1973. The following May, the nation's first 7-Eleven outlet was opened ...
Business / Corporate May 17, 2019
Japan's Seven-Eleven and Lawson to discount foods close to expiration in bid to cut waste
The chains have until now been selling products at list price and had all but banned franchise owners from offering discounts.
Food & Drink | KONBINI WATCH Apr 27, 2019
With convenience store onigiri, the devil's in the seasoning
by Patrick St. Michel
FamilyMart and Lawson are dressing up the humble onigiri (rice ball) with new add-ons and seasonings, upping the ante on the snack's standard flavors.
Business / Corporate Apr 26, 2019
Convenience store chains issue action plans, softening stance on operating hours amid labor pinch
Convenience store operators released actions plans Thursday to address acute labor shortages, which suggest they are becoming more flexible about operating hours. "We will let the owners of (franchise stores) make the final decision" on whether to reduce business hours, said Fumihiko Nagamatsu, president of ...
Food & Drink | KONBINI WATCH Apr 13, 2019
Lawson's corn pottage Kara-age Kun chicken is a cup of deep-fried nostalgia
by Patrick St. Michel
To herald the end of the Heisei Era (1989-2019), Lawson is bringing back some retro flavors of its signature Kara-age Kun fried chicken, like corn pottage, and seaweed and salt.
Business Apr 5, 2019
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.
Business / Corporate Apr 1, 2019
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 ...
Food & Drink | KONBINI WATCH Mar 30, 2019
Shake up your usual konbini purchase with these not-to-be-skipped sweets
by Patrick St. Michel
This week, Konbini Watch turns the spotlight on a few assorted convenience store highlights that shouldn't be missed.
Business / Corporate Mar 29, 2019
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 ...