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The sales result of Lawson, Inc. is as follows. Total sales at all stores in January amounted to 162,201 million yen, a 1.1% up year on year. Existing-store sales fell 0.6% over the same period. Average daily sales per store (all stores) totaled 490 thousand yen, while the average number of customers per store (existing stores) fell 0.9% to 755, and the average customer spend at existing stores rose 0.4% to 597 yen. We have less traffic than the previous year since we are still in severe competitive environment. The existing LAWSON stores’ sales in Japan*1 fell 0.2% in January.
Below is a breakdown of the existing-store sales performance by individual merchandise categories.
Rice Foods category items generated rise in year-on-year sales in January. The main factors are sales promotions and strong sales of newly launched “Gomoku Chukadon” (bowl of rice with stir-fried vegetables and seafood).
Sandwiches and other chilled bakery items exceeded the sales amount of previous year in January, as satisfactory sales of Strawberry Sandwich with higher price.
Collaboration items with TV program and special product promotions in the evening and at night gave a considerable boost to year-on-year sales of Delicatessen category.
Sales of over-the-counter fast foods gained over the previous year’s level. New flavor of “Karaage-kun”, newly launched “French Fries” using European made potatoes and Lawson’s original fast foods delicatessen helped boost sales there. Strong sales of MACHI café also contributed to over-the-counter fast foods category.
The sharp fall in cigarette sales accounted for approximately 1.5 point of the year-on-year fall in existing-store sales in January.
The Lawson Group operated 12,141 stores in Japan at the end of January 2015, including 116 NATURAL LAWSON stores and 1,156 LAWSON MART/LAWSON STORE100 stores.
Regarding LAWSON MART / LAWSON STORE100, existing-store sales fell 3.8% year on year in January (customer numbers: -5.4%; customer spend: +1.8%). In January, we opened and closed no store.
At its latest Board of Directors meeting held on January 29, 2015, Lawson, Inc. approved a plan to revitalize Lawson Store 100 and Lawson Mart. Lawson intends to close or change the format of approximately 300 Lawson Mart and Lawson Store 100 outlets. The 300 outlets marked for restructuring are mainly directly operated stores that would be difficult to transform into franchise stores. This reconstruction will help rationalize Lawson’s main target regions for new store openings, focusing on the three urban areas of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.
The Lawson Mart format had sought to provide customers with the additional value including the function of convenience stores such as fresh produce and ready-made meals and some other counter services. This knowledge will now be applied in other areas to help strengthen Lawson’s ability to support local consumer’s lives and community lifestyles. No new Lawson Mart format stores will be opened, and the existing 39 stores will be absorbed into other Lawson business categories.
Lawson Inc. signed a business alliance with the Japan-based holding company TSURUHA Holdings, Inc. Lawson aims to use Tsuruha’s experience in the operation, instruction and management of drugstores to jointly develop healthcare-focused convenience stores. The first store opened on February 5, 2015.
Lawson is promoting the “Miffy Campaign” from December 2, 2014 to March 2, 2015 to help broaden its customer base.
Note 1: Lawson, Inc. sales include sales generated by LAWSON stores (excluding Lawson Okinawa, Inc. and Lawson Minami-Kyusyu, Inc.), NATURAL LAWSON stores and LAWSON MART/LAWSON STORE100 stores. The LAWSON operation in Japan, equating to the non-consolidated performance disclosed up until January 2014, consists of sales generated by LAWSON, Inc. minus sales generated by LAWSON MART/LAWSON STORE100 stores.
LAWSON Group (Total of convenience store business) | |||||||
SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB | TOTAL | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opening in Japan | 61 | 85 | 65 | 71 | 40 | 175 | |
Closure in Japan | 64 | 23 | 30 | 33 | 18 | 40 | |
Net Increase in Japan | -3 | 62 | 35 | 38 | 22 | 135 | |
Total Number of Stores in Japan | 11984 | 12046 | 12081 | 12119 | 12141 | 12276 | |
Total Number of Stores Abroad | 533 | 541 | 554 | 587 | 587 | 591 | |
LAWSON stores in Japan (Excluding affiliated company accounted for by the equity-method) | |||||||
Opening | 57 | 80 | 58 | 66 | 37 | 169 | |
Closure | 39 | 21 | 27 | 28 | 14 | 34 | |
Net Increase | 17 | 59 | 30 | 37 | 23 | 138 | |
Total Number of Stores in Japan | 10346 | 10405 | 10435 | 10472 | 10495 | 10633 | |
NATURAL LAWSON stores in Japan | |||||||
Opening | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
Closure | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
Net Increase | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
Total Number of Stores in Japan | 110 | 111 | 112 | 115 | 116 | 116 | |
LAWSON STORE100 stores in Japan | |||||||
Opening | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Closure | 25 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
Net Increase | -22 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 0 | -5 | |
Total Number of Stores in Japan | 1155 | 1155 | 1157 | 1156 | 1156 | 1151 |
* The number of stores is a total number of stores operated by the Lawson group including the number of stores operated by Equity method affiliates and unconsolidated affiliates.
**Total Number of Stores in Japan include satellite stores.
Lawson, Inc. (Non-consolidated) | |||||||
SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All Stores (YOY) | 99.5% | 101.1% | 99.8% | 99.8% | 101.1% | 100.0% | |
Existing Stores (YOY) | 98.5% | 99.1% | 98.2% | 98.5% | 99.4% | 98.5% | |
Ave. Daily Sales per Store (Thousands of yen) | 517 | 521 | 504 | 524 | 490 | 500 | |
Number of Customers | (Number) | 852 | 849 | 819 | 796 | 755 | 782 |
YOY | 97.6% | 98.4% | 96.9% | 97.7% | 99.1% | 100.7% | |
Spending per Customer | (Yen) | 567 | 575 | 575 | 608 | 597 | 588 |
YOY | 100.9% | 100.6% | 101.4% | 100.9% | 100.4% | 97.7% | |
LAWSON and NATURAL LAWSON Business | |||||||
SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB | ||
All Stores (YOY) | 100.4% | 102.1% | 100.9% | 100.8% | 102.3% | 101.2% | |
Existing Stores (YOY) | 98.8% | 99.4% | 98.7% | 98.8% | 99.8% | 98.6% | |
Ave. Daily Sales per Store (Thousands of yen) | 527 | 532 | 515 | 538 | 503 | 513 | |
Number of Customers | (Number) | 841 | 840 | 812 | 792 | 751 | 778 |
YOY | 98.0% | 99.0% | 97.5% | 98.2% | 99.7% | 101.2% | |
Spending per Customer | (Yen) | 583 | 592 | 591 | 624 | 612 | 602 |
YOY | 100.8% | 100.4% | 101.2% | 100.6% | 100.0% | 97.4% | |
LAWSON STORE100 Business | |||||||
SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB | ||
Existing Stores (YOY) | 95.8% | 95.7% | 93.5% | 96.0% | 96.2% | 96.7% | |
Number of Customers (YOY) | 95.0% | 94.2% | 92.0% | 94.3% | 94.6% | 97.6% | |
Spending per Customer (YOY) | 100.9% | 101.6% | 101.7% | 101.9% | 101.8% | 99.0% |