By SHIKI IWASAWA/ Staff Writer
August 31, 2024 at 17:08 JST
The signboard of an Ito-Yokado supermarket in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Ito-Yokado Co., operator of supermarket chain Ito-Yokado, revealed the remaining five locations of 33 stores that will be closed by February 2025.
Ito-Yokado remains mired in a financial slump, having operated in the red for four consecutive years through the fiscal year ending February 2024.
The company is under retail conglomerate Seven & i Holdings Co.
In March 2023, Seven & i Holdings announced it would concentrate its domestic operations in the Tokyo metropolitan area, partly due to pressure from foreign investment funds to sell Ito-Yokado.
Seven & i Holdings then announced it will close 33 stores in Japan by February 2024. After the closures, the number of stores operating will be 93.
It later announced that Ito-Yokado will completely withdraw from Hokkaido, as well as the Tohoku and Shinetsu regions.
The five stores to be closed are in Ryugasaki, Ibaraki Prefecture; Nishi-Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture; Kawasaki Minato-cho, Kanagawa Prefecture; Anesaki, Chiba Prefecture; and Owari-Asahi in Aichi Prefecture.
The date and time of closure differs for each store.
The latest announcement means that there will be no Ito-Yokado in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Earlier in August, it was revealed that Seven & i Holdings has received a takeover offer from Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
Seven & I’s low market capitalization due to its inefficient management of businesses such as Ito-Yokado made it easier for the Canadian company to make a takeover offer, according to analysts.
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