Supermarket chains are increasing their direct farming interests. With Japan’s farm sector in decline and imports problematic and expensive, serious food retailers have both the opportunity and the need to take better control over their food supply chains. This is even more the case for growing Tokyo chains like Inageya and Summit. More and more […]
Seven Eleven has long propped up its sister companies in Seven & I Holdings, but the situation is getting worse rather than better. While the convenience store posted another record profit for the first nine months of FY2014, Ito-Yokado and Nissen, both important for the group‘s omnichannel strategy, suffered major dips in performance yet again. […]
Major supermarket chains are looking to open new small formats, ideal for shopping centres and creating a new challenge to convenience stores. In the past, supermarkets and GMS brands have generally preferred to open in their own SCs rather than those of independent developers but more chains are taking the decision to look for new […]
The benefits of taking existing supermarket businesses online seem significant and there is clear customer demand for convenient, home delivery services, at least in the major conurbations. But successfully implementing an online supermarket business is expensive and subject to lots of competition. Summit, the Tokyo based chain owned and operated by Sumitomo Shoji, has decided […]
Aeon continues to abide by the ‘keep it in-house’ rule, designing a myriad of small formats meant as tenants for its own stores and mall properties. Now several of these smaller chains will be spun off as new subsidiaries, with expansion to locations outside the direct control of Aeon Group. Aeon will expand its non-food […]
Sales of Seven & I private brands already exceed ¥700 billion a year. The company is now expanding the number of lines dual branded with major manufacturers, ranging from apparel to food and across its empire from convenience stores to Sogo Seibu. This seems like a win-win situation, giving Seven & I access to well-established […]
The effect of the April Consumption Tax increase has been far milder than many expected, but it has still hit more unprepared and intransigent retailers. This is most evident in the supermarket sector, where many chains survive on the thinnest of margins. While in most regions chains have indeed struggled as consumers worry over prices […]
Aeon has taken the next step towards its goal of consolidating the supermarket sector, beginning with the key market of Kanto. The retailer is tying with Marubeni to establish USM Holdings in March 2015, which in turn will take over ownership of Maruetsu, Kasumi and Maxvalu Kanto, all major Kanto supermarket chains. Together the operation […]
Walmart has been operating Seiyu for 14 years, and although estimated sales place Seiyu well down the rankings compared to its heyday, there are growing signs of confidence. Seiyu is looking to redesign more of its existing stores, further improving what is one of the best fresh produce operations in the country. It will also […]
Lawson will add its second major acquisition for the year this month, taking over leading upscale supermarket chain Seijo Ishii. The supermarket has been managed by a Mitsubishi-backed investment fund for several years, and it is no surprise that Mitsubishi’s convenience store subsidiary should want to add another supermarket banner to its portfolio, although Isetan-Mitsukoshi […]
Aeon will shortly make Daiei a wholly owned subsidiary and delist the company’s stock. This means that what was once Japan’s biggest retailer by far has finally suffered the fate of similarly indebted retailers over the past 20 years – one that it had previously avoided thanks to government support and funding. The simultaneous confirmation that […]
GMS share of the apparel market shrank last year, with sales down yet again. There is some glimmer of hope as the top chains expand private brand ranges, design better apparel floors, and in many cases, hand over space to specialty tenants, with some even making a profit. General Merchandise Store (GMS) chains continue to […]
FY2013 retail results were heavily influenced by both renewed consumer confidence and increased spending spurred by the pending tax increase, but they also represent a new benchmark for the industry. Whereas a decade ago, the high performing retailers stood out as the exceptions, last year the opposite was true, with just a small number of […]
Aeon has announced plans to turn Daiei into a supermarket chain, handing over the recently acquired chain’s regional GMS outlets to other Aeon businesses. With every expectation that Aeon will turn Daiei into a majority owned subsidiary in the next 12 months, the chain’s new major shareholder is keen to reposition Daiei and make it […]
Having announced a consolidation of drugstore interests back in March, in May Aeon said it plans to establish a new operating company for three of its main supermarket interests in Tokyo, with other Kanto companies joining in later phases. While long expected, the news brought a flurry of speculation as to future moves. An openly […]
Convenience store expansion has passed its peak and retailers are looking for new solutions for small footprint food retailing. The number of c-stores exceeded 50,000 in November, reaching 50,890 stores in February and then dropping in March. With the exception of sector leader Seven Eleven, all the major chains, along with various supermarkets (see Page […]
Retail sales fell in April as expected, and by marginally more than in 1997, but the industry still performed well and the extreme decline feared by many did not happen. Indeed, many chains were reporting that sales were back to levels seen in 2013 by the end of the month and others were already back […]
Seiyu is again taking a lead in the FMCG sector. Two years after shocking the industry with price cuts on basic goods, causing rivals to complain bitterly about excessive competition, the US owned chain announced more price reductions in April. In addition, it is now preparing to better leverage Walmart’s global supply system, bypassing Japanese […]
2013 was a good year for retailing, and the results for the 12 months to December mirror the early financial year results now appearing. Department stores did particularly well, with the higher end stores far outperforming suburban and regional stores. Department stores and most major supermarket chains posted excellent sales in calendar year 2013. Overall […]
2014 could be a rough year for some – but problems with consumer confidence could be yet another reason pushing retailers towards greater consolidation. Last month saw what is the most significant merger in retail history between H2O Retailing and Izumiya. There have been bigger mergers financially speaking, but this is the largest between two […]
