At a major department store in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, you can receive pre-booked lunch boxes and delicatessen items after the store is closed, in order to capture the demand of people who cannot eat out late due to the shortening of restaurant business hours due to the state of emergency. I started the service.
At this department store in front of Kashiwa Station, if you make a reservation by 3:00 pm on the day, you can buy the reserved items at the entrance of the store even after the store closes at 7:30 pm.
You can choose from more than 20 types of bento boxes and delicatessen items sold in the basement of the department store, such as sukiyaki and omelet rice, and on the night of the 21st, office workers on their way home from work received bento boxes one after another.
In this area, many people commute to work in Tokyo, and this department store wants to capture the demand for dinner for those who return home late.
A man in his 40s on his way home from work in Tokyo said, "I'm happy with this initiative because the restaurant closed early and I was in trouble because I had fewer options for dinner."
Akihiro Takada, the manager of the Takashimaya Kashiwa store, said, "I started with the voice that I was having trouble with dinner. The department store is in a difficult situation, but I want to work on what I can do and connect with customers."
Bento shop in Tokyo The number of visitors after 8:00 pm has increased rapidly
On the other hand, the number of customers who use bento shops in Tokyo during the night hours after the state of emergency is declared is increasing.
This bento shop is open 24 hours a day to meet the demand of truck drivers, but the number of customers has been increasing since the spread of the new coronavirus infection last spring.
In particular, the number of customers who come to the restaurant after 8:00 pm after the restaurant's business hours have been shortened due to this state of emergency has increased by more than 50% compared to before.
It is said that there are increasing cases where office workers stop by on their way home and people living nearby buy bulk for their families.
At this store, you can check the congestion status and the assortment of bento boxes by relaying the inside of the store on a video distribution site so that you can see the inside of the store even from a remote location.
A male office worker said, "I usually drink and go home, but I can't go now, so I came to buy a lunch box. It's helpful to have a place to buy dinner."
Kei Ito, who runs a bento shop, said, "I feel that the number of users is increasing more than I imagined due to the declaration of an emergency. Some people in the area are in trouble because there is no place to eat after working overtime. I hope I can support you. "