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</div> <div class="article-box"> <div class="detail"> <div class="feature-article"> <div class="date-area">May 5, 2016 3:58 am JST</div> <h1 class="title">Discount stores multiplying in Japan</h1> </div> </div> </div> <div class="article-box detail"> <div class="wysiwyg_area"> <div class="articleBodyText"> <p>TOKYO -- Japanese discount chains are broadening their footprint as they seek to capture budget-minded consumers living in an age of stagnant wages and economic uncertainty.</p><p>Starting this fiscal year, casual clothing retailer <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWLK-E" target="_self" alt="05HWLK-E" class="mwMoTrg">Shimamura</a> aims to launch 270 new locations over three years. The number would exceed by 30% the number of openings in the three-year span ended in February and mark the fastest pace since 2008, the year of the global financial meltdown. The company seeks to set up shop as tenants in places such as general merchandise stores, which are struggling to sell clothes.</p><div class="page_limit free"></div><div class="page_limit"></div><p><a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05TSNY-E" target="_self" alt="05TSNY-E" class="mwMoTrg">Seria</a>, the second-largest 100-yen shop operator in Japan, looks to open 150 stores in the current year through March 2017, or 20 more than in fiscal 2015. The company sees the additional locations lifting both sales and profit by 10% this fiscal year.</p><p>Daiei will boost openings of Big-A discount stores 10-fold in the year ending February 2017 compared with the previous year. The <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HRR2-E" target="_self" alt="05HRR2-E" class="mwMoTrg">Aeon</a> unit will continue adding around 100 Big-A locations annually until reaching 500 stores three years down the road.</p><p>In the restaurant industry, <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HXBM-E" target="_self" alt="05HXBM-E" class="mwMoTrg">Yoshinoya Holdings</a> will add about 50 new locations to its mainstay Yoshinoya beef bowl chain in the current year through February 2017, the largest expansion in seven years. Driving the decision are brisk sales of pork bowls, which are cheaper than beef bowls.</p><p><a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/0DQXNK-E" target="_self" alt="0DQXNK-E" class="mwMoTrg">Torikizoku</a>, a yakitori grilled-chicken purveyor known for its across-the-board menu price of 302 yen ($2.82), tax included, plans to open a record 100 locations, mainly in the Tokyo area, in the fiscal year ending July 2017.</p><p>"Since the fall of 2015 to the end of the year, consumers have become more price conscious," said Big-A President Hiroshi Miura, echoing the reasoning behind the industrywide discount rush.</p><p>An index tracking spending by working households declined last year to lows not seen since 2012.</p><p>However, with construction costs stuck at high levels, setting up new locations hurts earnings. To counter that, chain operators are looking to become tenants of bigger stores or take over shuttered sites where equipment left behind can be reused.</p><p>(Nikkei)</p> </div> </div> <div id="modal-screen_zoom"></div> </div> <div id="05HWLK-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWLK-E">SHIMAMURA Co., Ltd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Japan</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>TKS(8227)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Retail Trade<br>Apparel/Footwear Retail</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>4,982.29M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>36.91M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWLK-E">about SHIMAMURA Co., Ltd.</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="05TSNY-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05TSNY-E">Seria Co., Ltd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Japan</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>JAS(2782)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Retail Trade<br>Discount Stores</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>2,331.29M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>37.92M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05TSNY-E">about Seria Co., Ltd.</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="05HRR2-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HRR2-E">AEON Co., Ltd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Japan</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>TKS(8267)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Retail Trade<br>Food Retail</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>12,988.02M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>871.92M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HRR2-E">about AEON Co., Ltd.</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="05HXBM-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HXBM-E">Yoshinoya Holdings Co., Ltd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Japan</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>TKS(9861)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Consumer Services<br>Restaurants</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>830.16M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>65.12M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HXBM-E">about Yoshinoya Holdings Co., Ltd.</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="0DQXNK-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/0DQXNK-E">Torikizoku Co., Ltd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Japan</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>TKS(3193)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Consumer Services<br>Restaurants</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>221.79M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>11.58M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/0DQXNK-E">about Torikizoku Co., Ltd.</a> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="pagination no-border"></div> <div class="related-company"> <h2 class="related-header">Related companies</h2> <p class="company-list"> <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWLK-E">SHIMAMURA Co., Ltd.</a>, <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05TSNY-E">Seria Co., Ltd.</a>, <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HRR2-E">AEON Co., Ltd.</a>, <a href="/web/20160505040820/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HXBM-E">Yoshinoya Holdings Co., Ltd.</a>, <a 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