December 2, 2008

FamilyMart, a “born in Japan” convenience store chain, celebrates 20th year of overseas operations

Raising synergy in pursuit of global network of 20,000 stores

Today, December 2, 2008, FamilyMart Co., Ltd. marks the 20th anniversary of the opening of its first overseas store.

FamilyMart’s overseas store network development began in Taiwan in 1988

FamilyMart is a convenience store chain operator that originated in Japan. In August 1988 we established Taiwan FamilyMart Co., Ltd. as our area franchiser in Taiwan, and our first store there was opened on December 2 of that year. Subsequently, FamilyMart signed contracts with companies in South Korea, Thailand, China, and the United States to expand its overseas operations. As of the end of October this year, FamilyMart’s overseas network comprised 7,105 stores. Together with our network in Japan, this gives 14,411 stores in total.

Adapting our “born in Japan” know-how to local conditions

Certain aspects of FamilyMart’s store management are common to all our stores, both in Japan and overseas. These include our firm insistence on the principles of service, quality, and cleanliness (SQ&C), and on ensuring that our services are offered in the spirit of hospitality. In other cases, we adapt ourselves to local conditions, such as in the selection of ready-to-eat food product lineups. Thus, the core of our store operation expertise is the fruit of our many years of experience in Japan, and we supplement this with our unique know-how in overseas operations. This approach has won FamilyMart considerable popularity among consumers in the countries where we operate, and has enabled us to open new stores every year.

FamilyMart’s international store chain exhibits strong synergy

Each year FamilyMart holds an Area Franchisers’ Summit meeting at which the top management members of FamilyMart meet with their counterparts from our domestic and overseas area franchiser companies, to discuss and coordinate management policy and reaffirm the FamilyMart Group’s collaborative relationships. In this and other ways we ensure that the ties that bind all Group members remain strong, and that the progress made by individual members produces maximum synergy for the FamilyMart network as a whole.
FamilyMart will continue to work closely with all its domestic and overseas area franchisers in the design and implementation of common sales promotion campaigns, and in initiatives covering the whole network in such fields as ensuring product safety and further improving our product quality management system. We will make optimum use of common procurement systems to realize the sort of economies of scale that are possible only for a convenience store chain operating at the multinational level.

Our slogan is “FamilyMart, Where You Are One of the Family.” Under this slogan, we aim to ensure that our customers enjoy every minute they spend in our stores by treating them with genuine warmth and friendliness.

We will continue opening new stores overseas at an accelerating pace toward our goal of 20,000 stores in Japan and overseas. At the same time, we plan to refine the know-how in overseas operations that we have accumulated over the past twenty years to constitute a model for convenience store operators around the world.

For reference:

A short history of FamilyMart’s overseas expansion

Sept. 1973	First store opened on trial basis in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture
March. 1978	The Seiyu Stores establishes FamilyMart Department
Sept. 1981	The Seiyu Stores establishes FamilyMart Co., Ltd.
Aug. 1988	Taiwan FamilyMart Co., Ltd. established (1st store opened in Dec.)
July. 1990	BOKWANG FAMILYMART CO., LTD. established in South Korea (1st store opened in Oct.)
Sept. 1992	Siam FamilyMart Co., Ltd. established in Thailand (1st store opened July 1993)
Dec. 2003	Total number of stores in FamilyMart chain reaches 10,000
May. 2004	Shanghai FamilyMart Co., Ltd. established in China (1st store opened in July)
Oct. 2004	FAMIMA CORPORATION established in the United States (1st store opened July 2005)
Sept. 2006	Guangzhou FamilyMart Co., Ltd. established in China (1st store opened Jan. 2007)
July 2007	Suzhou FamilyMart Co., Ltd. established in China (1st store opened in Sept.)