Monthly Operations Summary FY2014 (Jan 2015)

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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.

Monthly Data

Stores
LAWSON Group (Total of convenience store business)
  SEPOCTNOVDECJANFEBTOTAL
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.

Sales
Lawson, Inc. (Non-consolidated)
  SEPOCTNOVDECJANFEB
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
  SEPOCTNOVDECJANFEB
 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
  SEPOCTNOVDECJANFEB
 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%

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