As part of its structural reforms, major supermarket chain Ito-Yokado has announced that it will gradually close 17 stores in areas such as Hokkaido and Tohoku, and withdraw from these regions. The company plans to transfer the business of more than half of these stores.
Ito-Yokado's financial results for the year ending February last year continued to be in the red for three consecutive years, and its parent company, Seven & i Holdings, closed 33 stores in the three years ending February 2026 (2026). We have decided on a policy to proceed with structural reforms, such as reducing the number of employees.
Under these circumstances, Ito-Yokado is currently closing six stores in Hokkaido and eight stores in four prefectures in Tohoku, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima, and withdrawing from Hokkaido and Tohoku. We have finalized our policy.
In addition, we plan to gradually close two stores in Nagano Prefecture and one store in Niigata Prefecture and withdraw from each prefecture, reducing the number of stores by 17 in total.
According to the company, more than half of these stores have business transfer agreements with supermarkets inside and outside the group, and the company plans to maintain employment as much as possible through rehiring at the transfer destinations.
Now that the company has revealed specific measures to reduce its store network, the focus will now be on whether it can move forward with a speedy restructuring of its business, such as concentrating on the food business centered on the Tokyo metropolitan area.