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Japan supermarket sales fell 1.2% in July

According to data released earlier today by the Japan Chain Stores Association, supermarket sales in Japan fell 1.2% to 1.05 trillion yen in July. Supermarket sales have now fallen for 20 consecutive months on a year-on-year comparison, though the rate of decline is slowing somewhat.

Here is a breakdown of July’s adjusted same-store figures (not including stores opened within the past twelve months): Read more

Japan convenience store sales up in July for the first time in 14 months

According to data released today by the Japan Franchise Association, convenience store sales rose 0.5% in July, showing an increase for the first time in 14 months.

The hot weather appears to have helped convenience store sales in July, as sales of cold drinks, ice cream and processed food increased 5.8%. Customer traffic was up 2.3% in July, and this is notable because it is the first increase above 2% since June 2009, when the TASPO card was introduced. Read more

Cracks re-emerging in Japan’s convenience store industry

A Nikkei report published today told us that Japan’s convenience stores experienced their second lowest annual growth in financial 2009 since 1978 as sales booms derived from the introduction of the TASPO card wore off. According to the paper:

Overall sales at domestic convenience stores edged up 1.1% in fiscal 2009 to mark their second-weakest rise since tracking of comparable data began in 1978, according to a survey by Nikkei Inc.

Overall sales came to 8.31 trillion yen, with the number of convenience stores growing by 1,075 to reach 46,069.

While sales are still on the rise, a 1.1% increase is not much to boast about; sales increases were below 2% in both FY2006 and FY2007. With the number of convenience store locations still increasing, it looks as though the sector is bound for price wars and the survival of the fittest (richest). On a daily basis, customer traffic per store fell 0.6% to 1,025 people in FY2009, while average sales per store dropped 2.4% to 487,000 yen per day. There were 8.6% more convenience store locations open in FY2009 than the year before.

The industry, however, clearly understand the problem:

Of the 27 convenience store operators offering responses on business conditions, 20 said the business environment has worsened. The most cited reasons were a glut of stores in urban areas and the expansion of store networks

Makes sense.

Many of the large convenience store chain operators now intend to slow their expansions this fiscal year while shutting down or relocating unprofitable stores…The four big players — Seven & i Holdings Co. (3382) unit Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Lawson Inc. (2651), FamilyMart Co. (8028) and Circle K Sunkus Co. (3337) — plan to open a total of 2,320 new stores, down 3.5% from last fiscal year. This figure excludes the 350 stores of the former am/pm Japan Co. that will be rebranded as FamilyMart stores. Meanwhile, store closings are projected to rise 7.8% to 1,540.

The Nikkei article fails to mention overseas expansion as the only viable growth model.

Department store sales down for 26th consecutive month in April

According to data released today by the Japan Department Store Association, sales at department stores nationwide fell 3.7% to 484.6 billion yen in April, marking the 26th consecutive month of decline. The survey covered sales at 92 department store operators with 267 shops.

Here is the breakdown of sales by individual categories: Read more

Fast Fashion: Forever 21 announces Japan expansion plan

In a press conference earlier today, Forever 21 Chairman Don Chang told reporters that his firm intends to open ten stores a year in Japan until about 100 locations are in business.

Forever 21 opened its first shop in Japan last April in the trendy Harajuku neighborhood. Tomorrow, it will open its second domestic location, inside the Matsuzakaya department store in Ginza. According to Forever 21, the Ginza shop will be almost double the size of the Harajuku location. Read more

Japan supermarket sales fall 6.6% in March

According to data released earlier today by the Japan Chain Stores Association, supermarket sales in Japan fell 6.6% to 976.18 billion yen in March. Supermarket sales have now fallen for 16 consecutive months.

Here is a breakdown of March’s adjusted same-store figures (not including stores opened within the past twelve months): Read more

Uniqlo: March sales down, open for business in Russia

Shares in Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo, fell by 1,770 yen on Monday to 14,920 in reaction to the retail firm announcing on Friday that it had posted a 16.4% drop in same-store sales for March. Uniqlo also saw a 10.7% decline in customer numbers while spending per customer fell 6.4%. Read more

Nikkei: “Devastation” awaits department stores in 2010

The Nikkei certainly isn’t mincing words when it comes to describing the state of Japan’s department store industry. In an article entitled “More Devastation Awaits Dept Stores In ‘10,” the paper made its case for why the department store industry might see a record number of closures over the coming year.

The Nikkei points out that after five department stores had been shutting down each year, that number rose to nine in 2009 and ten are already scheduled to close this year. The current all-time high is 15 closures in 2000. That was the year in which department store giant Sogo collapsed. Read more

Mutantfrog: The history of department stores in Kyoto

For an absolutely awesome writeup on the history of department stores in Kyoto, check out Roy Berman’s recent post “The history of department stores in Kyoto, and Kyoto in the history of the department store” at the Mutantfrog Travelogue.

McDonald’s betting on coffee for profit growth?

On Monday, McDonald’s Japan reported that its pretax profit had jumped 25% in the January-September period compared to a year ago, despite a 10% drop in same-store sales, which can be explained by the conversion of many shops to franchises during this period. Overall sales were actually up 3.3%, again hitting an all-time high. Existing store sales were up 1.7% although the number of customers actually showed a 0.6% decline.

In an effort to get more customers in its shops, McDonald’s gave away free coffee on a few dates during the third quarter. Although the number of customers at existing stores showed a decline, this figure is also mitigated by the transformation of centrally owned shops to franchises. Read more

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