Lawson (store)

Lawson, Inc.
Native name
 株式会社ローソン
Kabushiki Kaisha Rōson
Public (K.K.)
Traded as TYO: 2651
Headquarters Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan
Number of employees
 6,404 (2013)
Website lawson.jp
Lawson Terauchicho 1-chome shop in Moriguchi, Osaka, Japan

Lawson, Inc. (株式会社ローソン Kabushiki Kaisha Rōson, TYO: 2651) is a convenience store franchise chain in Japan. The store originated in the U.S. state of Ohio, but today exists as a Japanese company and is the second largest convenience store chain in the country behind 7-Eleven.[1]

The Japanese company has its headquarters in East Tower of Gate City Ohsaki in Ōsaki, Shinagawa, Tokyo.[2]

Origins in Ohio

In 1939,[3] a dairy owner named J.J. Lawson started a store at his Broad Boulevard dairy plant in Cuyahoga Falls, near Akron, Ohio, to sell his milk. The Lawson's Milk Company grew to a chain of stores, primarily in Ohio.[3] Lawson was bought out by Consolidated Foods in 1959. Lawson's convenience stores were common in Ohio from the 1960s through the mid-1980s.

Consolidated was renamed Sara Lee in 1985.[4] At about the same time, Lawson's stores in the United States were sold to Dairy Mart,[3] a smaller chain of convenience stores located in Enfield, Connecticut. Dairy Mart moved its headquarters to Cuyahoga Falls, renamed the Lawson's stores, and operated the chain as Dairy Mart for the next 17 years. Under Dairy Mart, the chain was not without controversy.[5] Dairy Mart was sued by the American Family Association, after a Dairy Mart manager in Ohio complained that the company's policy of selling pornography subjected her to sexual and religious harassment.[6] The court case, Stanley v. Lawson Co., gained fame as a test of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[7]

In 2002, Alimentation Couche-Tard of Laval, Quebec bought the assets and name of Dairy Mart. Most of the former Dairy Mart stores — many of which were either originally Lawson's stores, or were located in communities in which Lawson's once had a presence — were converted to the Circle K brand. Due to popular response from consumers in Ohio and elsewhere, it was announced that Lawson's Chip Dip would continue to be sold "no matter what the name of the store", as was reported in the Akron Beacon Journal.[8][9]

Presence in Japan

Inside a Lawson in Ontakesan

In 1974, Consolidated signed a formal agreement with Daiei to open the first Lawson stores in Japan. On April 15, 1975 Daiei Lawson Co., Ltd. was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Daiei, Inc., a retail company which also ran a supermarket chain. The first store opened in Sakurazuka, Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture in June 1975. In September 1979 the official name was changed to Lawson Japan, Inc.. The Mitsubishi Corporation became the main shareholder in 2001.

Lawson is one of the top convenience store chains in Japan, second only to convenience franchise giant 7-Eleven. All of the usual Japanese convenience store goods such as magazines, video games, manga, soft drinks, onigiri, and bento are available. They have occasionally collaborated on tie-ins with various companies, including Koei's PlayStation 3 game Dynasty Warriors 7.[10] In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, a Lawson store in author Hirohiko Araki's native Sendai was remodeled to look like the "Owson" store that appears in part 4 of the series.[11] In late 2013, a crossover with All Japan Pro Wrestling saw Triple Crown heavyweight wrestling champion Kohei Suwama appear in ads and even work the till for a photo-op in a Tokyo location.

To date, Lawson operates over 11,384 stores[12] in all 47 prefectures of Japan, as well as in Shanghai and Chongqing, China. In August 2011, Lawson opened their first store in Jakarta, Indonesia [13]

In 2014 the company announced plans to open stores specifically designed for elderly consumers. The first such store is expected to open in February 2015, in Kawaguchi. [14]

In 2013 Lawson began opening stores in Thailand under the name Lawson 108. The stores are run as a joint venture between Lawson Japan and the Thai consumer goods giant Saha Group.[15]

In September 2014, Lawson announced it would acquire Japanese chain Seijo Ishii Co for around $503 million from Marunouchi Capital.[16]

Return to the United States

Lawson's at the Moana Surfrider Hotel

With the establishment of "Lawson USA Hawaii, Inc." Lawson returned to the U.S. market, with two locations in Honolulu opening on July 7, 2012.[17] One of the stores is in the Sheraton Waikiki, while the other is in the Moana Surfrider Hotel.[18][18][19]

Further expansion to both Hawaii and the mainland U.S. is planned, with 30 stores planned for Hawaii alone over the next three years.[20]

Solar power

As of May 2012 Lawson had solar equipment at only 20 of their stores, but the company announced in June 2012 that it would install solar panels at 2,000 stores of their 10,000 Japanese stores[21] starting in September 2012 and finishing by the end of February 2014. It was estimated that each store would generate an about 11,000kwh per year. Just under 2,000kwh of this would go toward climate control and other in-house uses, which would account for about 1% of each store's power consumption. The rest of the electricity would be sold under Japan's feed-in tariff system that came into operation on July 1, 2012. It was estimated that the company's income from the power generated by the 2,000 stores would come to more than 700 million yen a year.[22]

Lawson planned to install solar panels at 1,000 stores in the 2012-2013 financial year, and 1,000 more in the 2013-2014 financial year. It chose solar panels from Solar Frontier, along with the same company's online monitoring system for the first 1,000 stores.[23]

Lawson in Indonesia

In Indonesia, Lawson is a subsidiary of Alfamidi (PT Midi Utama Indonesia Tbk).[24] Recently, Lawson join with JKT48 to launched their new product.

Lawson in the Philippines

Lawson Asia Pacific and Puregold Price Club formed a joint venture under the name PG Lawson Company Inc. They opened their first branch in Santa Ana, Manila on March 30, 2015. Under the partnership, Lawson will provide its expertise in convenience store's know-how and product development while Puregold will provide its expertise in product procurement and localized knowledge of the retail consumers.

They plan to open 50 stores by 2015 and 500 stores by 2020.

[25]

References

  1. ↑ Lawson Japan Inc - Second Largest Japanese Konbini Convenience Store Chain. Profile on Component Database. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  2. ↑ "Corporate Profile." Lawson. Retrieved on July 4, 2011. "East Tower, Gate City Ohsaki 11-2, Osaki 1-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-8643 Japan"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Dairy Mart Uncovers Piece of History. Originally published in Convenience Store News, 16 April 2002. Retrieved from AllBusiness.com, 19 December 2007.
  4. ↑ The Sara Lee Heritage. Sara Lee website, accessed 19 January 2008.
  5. ↑ Dairy Mart Convenience Stores, Inc. Page at Answers.com. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  6. ↑ Olson, Walter. For Heaven's Sake Religious accommodation and other openings for big-government conservatism. Reason magazine, December 1997. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  7. ↑ Chmara, Theresa and Mach, Daniel. Civil Liability for an Alleged Hostile Work Environment Related to Patron or Employee Internet Use. Memorandum Jenner & Block, 2 February 2004. Published on the website of the Freedom to Read Foundation. Retrieved 19 December 2007. See also 993 F. Supp. 1084 in the Federal Supplement.
  8. ↑ Dairy Marts Renamed. CSP Daily News, July 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  9. ↑ Abraham, Lisa (January 13, 2009). "Lisa Abraham: Lawson's stores prosper in Japan". Akron: Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  10. ↑ Anoop Gantayat (2011-01-21). "Dynasty Warriors 7 Gets Extremely Inappropriate Collaboration Content". Andriasang. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
  11. ↑ "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Owson Store Recreated in Real Life". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  12. ↑ Kameda, Masaaki (8 October 2013). "Japanese convenience store chain going healthy". The Japan Times. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  13. ↑ http://www.halojepang.com/ekonomi-bisnis/2759-kerjasama-dengan-midi-utama-indonesia-lawson-buka-gerai-pertama-di-kemang-jakarta
  14. ↑ http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/unternehmen/lawson-japanische-kette-plant-eigene-supermaerkte-fuer-senioren-13105984.html
  15. ↑ http://thailand.lawson.jp/information/2013/02/000005.html
  16. ↑ Lawson to buy supermarket chain Seijo Ishii for $500 million. Reuters, 30 September 2014
  17. ↑ Lawson Opening in Hawaii
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Two Lawsons Opened in Honolulu
  19. ↑ Abraham, Lisa (July 8, 2012). "Lawson's returns to the U.S.". Akron: Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  20. ↑ Lawson Station prepares for grand opening
  21. ↑ Tokyo Weekender Solar Convenience Stores May 9, 2012 Retrieved on September 26, 2012
  22. ↑ Nikkei Lawson To Generate Solar Power At 2,000 Stores June 29, 2012 Retrieved on September 26, 2012
  23. ↑ Solar Frontier Japanese Convenience Store Chain Lawson Chooses Solar Frontier Panels July 9, 2012 Retrieved on September 26, 2012
  24. ↑ Lawson Indonesia
  25. ↑ http://lawson.jp/en/news/2015/03/we-have-set-to-open-the-first-lawson-store-in-the-philippines-on-march-30th.html

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lawson.