Lawson, Japan’s second-largest c-store chain, is reportedly eyeing domestic acquisitions as opportunities to expand through new stores becomes tougher.
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Takeshi Niinami, the company’s president, told Reuters that Japan’s convenience retail channel had reached saturation point.
“As a business model designed for young generation, the convenience store market has definitely hit saturation,” Niinami said.
Niinami said Lawson would look to participate in the impending consolidation in the sector. “We are very aggressive. We are looking into it,” he said. “Small- and medium-sized chains cannot survive because it’s very hard for them to keep up with information technology investment, which is essential for our industry.”
About 95% of Lawson’s over 8,500 stores are franchised. Japan’s largest convenience retailer, Seven & I Holdings Co., has 11,700 stores.
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