Total sales for March 2006 edged down 0.6% year on year, to 116,966 million yen. Existing store sales declined 4.3% and average daily sales per store were 461,000 yen. The average amount spent per customer was 586 yen, down 2.3%, and the average number of customers per store per day dropped 2.0% to 785.

Although there was a year-on-year decline in existing store markups, an important indicator for LAWSON, the percentage decline was slightly less than that of existing store sales.

The discontinuation of Highway Card sales brought down monthly sales by about 1%.

By area, sales were strong in Kanto, Kinki and other regions with large urban areas.

March was an extremely difficult month for stores in terms of product ordering due to wild fluctuations in temperatures.

In the rice dishes category, LAWSON launched new products in the Gohantei and Onigiriya series, but sales fell short of the previous year.

Fast food category sales remained strong, supported by new product launches and the benefits of different product lineups at stores tailored to local differences in temperature.

Bakery category sales failed to match the previous year's level when strong sales of Melon Pan products boosted revenues. A highlight of the month, however, was the strong response garnered by the Totte Oki Sengen series, helped by a brand unification campaign.

As part of CSR activities, LAWSON began initiatives related to the recycling of used edible oils and the reduction and separation of trash. Details can be found in the respective press releases on this website (Japanese only).

In April, LAWSON aims to revitalize sales spaces while continuing to introduce new products that it hopes to turn into core products. On March 15, LAWSON started accepting orders for gifts for Mother's Day.

As of March 31, 2006, in addition to our nationwide network of regular LAWSON stores, we had 52 NATURAL LAWSON stores and 36 LAWSON STORE100 stores. From this fiscal year, monthly data for the total number of stores includes NATURAL LAWSON and LAWSON STORE100 stores.

LAWSON plans to announce its business results for the year ended February 28, 2006 on April 12, 2006. The earnings release and supplementary materials will be available on this website soon thereafter.