Tag - stores

 
 

STORES

This pure gold tea bowl was stolen last week during a department store event and has been found at an antique shop in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2024
Stolen pure gold tea bowl recovered at Tokyo antique shop
During the exhibition, the pure gold tea bowl was on display with no lock or alarm system.
The Takashimaya department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 13, 2024
Man arrested for stealing ¥10 million gold tea bowl in Tokyo
Security camera footage showed a man putting the bowl in his backpack and fleeing toward Nihonbashi Station about 30 minutes later.
The Takashimaya department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district, where the golden tea bowl was stolen Thursday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 12, 2024
¥10 million golden tea bowl stolen from Tokyo department store
The 24-carat gold matcha tea bowl was stolen from the Takashimaya department store in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district.
Speculation has been swirling for months over the fate of Ito-Yokado, which was Seven & I's original retail franchise before it bought 7-Eleven and turned it into a large, successful business.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 10, 2024
Seven & I set to split 7-Eleven from original Ito-Yokado stores
Ito-Yokado was the company’s original franchise before it bought 7-Eleven and turned it into a successful business.
Ichibata Department Store, located in Matsue, capital of Shimane Prefecture, was the last remaining department store in the prefecture but ended its 65-year history on Jan. 14.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 21, 2024
More prefectures losing department stores even amid pandemic recovery
In 17 prefectures there is currently only one department store and there are none in three, set to rise to four in July.
On display at the new 7-Eleven store in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, are about 2,000 additional products that aren’t usually carried in 7-Elevens, including fresh fruit, diapers and hair-care products.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 29, 2024
Seven & I Holdings explores market for bigger 7-Elevens
Its new store in Chiba Prefecture will have more than twice the number of products and is almost double the size of regular outlets.
A photograph taken by a local resident shows a man being held down by police officers near a convenience store in Sapporo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2024
Police describe how fatal stabbing at Sapporo convenience store unfolded
The suspect was arrested at the scene after the attack, which killed one store employee and left two others injured.
A convenience store in Sapporo, where a man was arrested after allegedly stabbing three people on Sunday morning
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 25, 2024
One dead after stabbing at convenience store in Sapporo
Police arrested the suspected assailant at the scene of the crime in the city's Kita Ward.
Telecoms giant KDDI plans with Mitsubishi to take convenience store operator Lawson private could help it as it currently stands behind FamilyMart and Seven & I Holdings in a three-horse race.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2024
There are clouds on the horizon in Japan’s 'conbini-land'
Industry consolidation has pushed minor players out of the conbini game.
Mitsubishi President Katsuya Nakanishi (left), Lawson President Sadanobu Takemasu (center) and KDDI President Makoto Takahashi wear Lawson uniforms during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday to announce the carrier's plan to raise its stake in the convenience chain.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2024
KDDI to raise stake in Lawson to jointly run convenience chain
Japan's second-largest mobile carrier currently holds 2.1% of shares but will invest about ¥500 billion to increase its stake through a tender offer.
Seven & I Holdings CEO Ryuichi Isaka
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2024
Japan’s convenience stores can span the globe, 7-Eleven CEO says
Ryuichi Isaka believes Seven-Eleven Japan’s know-how in making cheap, high-quality food will drive growth overseas.
Foreign tourists at a duty-free counter in a department store in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2024
Duty-free sales at Japan department stores hit record high in 2023
The rise reflected the weak yen, as well as an increase in the number of foreign visitors to Japan.
Seiste's ¥1,650 limited-edition ice cream will be available for eat-in customers throughout the Valentine's Day period at the Matsuya department store in Tokyo's Ginza district.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 25, 2024
Tokyo department stores to offer in-store dining options for Valentine's Day
In recent years, the Feb. 14 celebration has evolved from a day of gifting sweets to a celebration of love for chocolate.
Average spending per customer at convenience stores increased 1.1% to ¥723.5 in 2023, but the outlook remains uncertain as inflation drags on.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2024
Japan's convenience store sales rise 4.1% to record high in 2023
Average spending per customer increased 1.1% to ¥723.5, but the outlook remains uncertain as inflation drags on.
Kazuhisa Yokoyama, the head of sales at Takashimaya, apologizes during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 27, 2023
Takashimaya apologizes over damaged Christmas cakes
The pricey ¥5,400 cakes were meant to be delivered frozen, but many arrived melted, lopsided or crumbled.
Sogo & Seibu labor union members strike in front of the flagship Seibu Ikebukuro store in Tokyo's Toshima Ward on Aug. 31.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2023
After troubled sale, prospects for Sogo & Seibu uncertain
Department store operator must develop a new template for survival under the management of an investment fund.
Sogo & Seibu’s flagship store in Ikebukuro is closed due to a strike on Aug. 31. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 19, 2023
As goes the Sogo department store, so goes Japan
The number of department stores located outside Japan's 10 biggest cities has dropped by 30% in the past decade.
Flavorless (?) Candy spurred debate over what the "taste of nothingness" tastes like, if anything.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 10, 2023
Sucking on Japan's flavorless candy for a 'state of nothingness'
The candy was developed for people who wanted to moisten mouths that had gone dry from all-day mask wearing but without a sugar rush.
A Sogo department store in Yokohama. Fortress Investment Group, which has acquired Sogo & Seibu, plans to keep all 10 Sogo and Seibu department stores open for the time being, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2023
Fortress to maintain all Sogo and Seibu stores for now: sources
The U.S. investment firm now plans to spend a total of ¥60 billion, compared with at least ¥20 billion it initially considered.
Union workers of Sogo & Seibu hold banners which read 'on strike' in front of the company's flagship Seibu Ikebukuro store in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2023
Sogo & Seibu labor union begins strike at flagship Ikebukuro store
While the labor union made a strong effort to prevent Seven & I from proceeding with the deal, a decision was made to sell the department store unit.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores