Lawson Eyes U.S. C-Store Market

The Japanese retailer wants to accelerate its overseas holdings.

June 03, 2016

TOKYO – Lawson, the second largest convenience store chain in Japan, has expressed interest in expanding its holdings to the United States, The Japan News reports. Lawson is especially looking at American convenience store chains. The company aims to increase its number of international locations by around a quarter within 12 months.

“In the United States where the market is mature, mergers and acquisitions are a simple and straightforward way for us to expand, which would also allow us to buy time to boost the number of shops,” said Sadanobu Takemasu, the new president and COO of Lawson.

While Lawson doesn’t have any deals cooking, the company is open to moving quickly if opportunities arise. Takemasu also said Lawson would be increasing its presence in Southeast Asia. Currently, Lawson has 12,500 units in Japan and 793 in other countries, with an aim to bump that to 1,000 stores by February 2017.

7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson have all begun to focus on overseas locations while continuing to battle for the Japanese consumer at home. Lawson enjoys a 5.3% market share of Japan’s grocery retail sales, according to Euromonitor International.

“In Japan, I want to focus resources on the existing businesses to strengthen them,” Takemasu said. “So I’m not considering adding new businesses to our Japan portfolio through mergers and acquisitions for now.”

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