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Convenience retail outlets are part of the country’s culture, which means that the foreign takeover bid of 7-Eleven, the largest chain, can be a tough sell in Japan.
By Kiuko Notoya and River Akira Davis
Information from 7-Eleven outlets in Japan, adding the original to East Tokyo
In Japan, convenience retail establishments are in the spotlight. Clean and bright, they are packed with fresh, affordable lunch boxes, steamed buns and stews for winter. Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain once called them “the one vice” he couldn’t give up.
For many locals, the more than 55,000 cheerful, jingling shops, known as konbini, are an indispensable component of life. Millions of other people flock to retail outlets daily to buy groceries, send packages, and pay their bills.
Japan’s largest konbini chain, 7-Eleven, is also the most famous. It’s understandable that a competing company would want to get in on the action.
This week, Seven
The prestige of 7-Eleven retail outlets as a cornerstone of Japanese society also means that Japan is unlikely to be willing to component with them, in spite of expanding strain on corporations in the country to be open to foreign acquisitions.
7-Eleven is “one of the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retail corporations,” said Hiroaki Watanabe, an independent retail analyst. Selling 7-Eleven to Couche-Tard would be, for Japan, “like Toyota adapting to a foreign company,” he said.
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