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The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

japantimes.co.jp

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Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#71

Post by MarkSweep »

m_mueller wrote: post #66
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Automation is the only path forward, they should be pursuing it with as much vigor as possible. Well, they could always do more immigration. Its not like they don't do some already, and I think the Japanese will become much more open to it in the future.

As far as I understand Japan is already opening. Their new Visa score system is quite broad.

Wow, they made the point based thing quite a bit easier: http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_3/en/pdf/171110_leaflet...

For example, you get points for JLPT N2 (previously only N1) and for patents you only need one (previously three, if IIRC).

Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#72

Post by ariwilson »

delhanty wrote: post #30

Even for HN, these are some of the most empathy-deficient comments that I've ever read. Yes, it's true that there is a huge problem with overwork for the franchisees. But those stores aren't there (just) for you. Imagine this scenario: you're over 80, living on your own and not very mobile. The fact that there's a 7-eleven within 100 metres that sells a large variety of foodstuffs and essential items in single portio…

LA's a bad example; while there may not be a 7-Eleven every hundred meters, there's certainly one within a mile radius of most people in the city.

Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#73

Post by Freak_NL »

CydeWeys wrote: post #26
RyJones wrote: post #24

I also just came back from Tokyo and Osaka; I was blown away by how many 7/11s there were and how close they were. The vending machines are amazing. One other thing I would like to import: the widely available, clean bathrooms all over the place. That was super nice.

Free public bathrooms everywhere was nice, but there was still a dearth of free public water fountains -- which, admittedly, most cities don't have enough of. Rome is kind of the gold standard in this regard. I loved how some of the vending machines and convenience stores sold hot canned drinks. I've never seen that anywhere in the US. Now the hot canned coffee wasn't actually good (I had to try it), but it was inter…

> Now the hot canned coffee wasn't actually good (I had to try it)

You just have to find the one type of can that doesn't have added sugar or milk. Once you know those nothing beats pulling a warm can of black coffee from the machine.

Really, the first company to introduce these on stations here in the Netherlands (or anywhere these don't exist) will turn a handsome profit if they stick to the Japanese formula for 自動販売機: small cans, low prices, decent selection, warm coffee, and located on train platforms. The novelty factor of the warm cans will take care of initial promotion.

But leave out that one warm corn drink.

Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#74

Post by rangibaby »

CydeWeys wrote: post #26
RyJones wrote: post #24

I also just came back from Tokyo and Osaka; I was blown away by how many 7/11s there were and how close they were. The vending machines are amazing. One other thing I would like to import: the widely available, clean bathrooms all over the place. That was super nice.

Free public bathrooms everywhere was nice, but there was still a dearth of free public water fountains -- which, admittedly, most cities don't have enough of. Rome is kind of the gold standard in this regard. I loved how some of the vending machines and convenience stores sold hot canned drinks. I've never seen that anywhere in the US. Now the hot canned coffee wasn't actually good (I had to try it), but it was inter…

It depends on the municipality. Even tiny parks in Nagoya will have a water fountain and faucet

Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#75

Post by Scoundreller »

PhantomGremlin wrote: post #40
raverbashing wrote: post #32

7-11 is not friendly to Franchisees in the US either. There have been some lawsuits even Owning a convenience store is a hard proposition

It's not just 7-Eleven. I wouldn't want to be a franchisee of any sort in the US. The power dynamic is horrible. McDonald's is probably one of the better ones. But you're still beholden to them. They often own the land under the building, if not the building itself. They tell you exactly what you must do. They tell you when to remodel. They make you buy from their suppliers. They can decide to open another store a mi…

Probably through higher margins on sales? But we’ll have less of those too with increased realiability.

I think the real threat to the incumbents is the risk of having only the 3rd best or worse electric drivetrain.

We might be in a winner-takes-all-ish market, like cell phones.

Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#76

Post by Tharkun »

patio11 wrote: post #14
jorblumesea wrote: post #7

I don't understand the demand from the parent company to stay open late, given the lack of customers they clearly have and the oversupply of combini. I was at a 7-11 in Osaka by the dotonbori and it was basically vacant. Like many things in Japanese society it seems to be because "this is the way it's done".

You live in a country with franchises, right? What would you articulate as the brand promise of a McDonalds? McDonalds has a very clear internal understanding of that brand promise: it includes clean bathrooms, a smile, extremely low prices available, and very consistent food. 7/11 also has a brand promise. It includes, prominently, “If you need it, 7/11 is open.” The LTV of a conbini regular is very, very, very high…

McDonalds has clean bathrooms? That's news to me.

Source: went for a wee in a McDo in Belgium last week, place was predictably disgusting.

Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#77

Post by Scoundreller »

smelendez wrote: post #67
ericd wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it does. Decreased friction provides a very real, very large boost to almost any business like this. Any uncertainty or mental effort makes me much less likely to go, especially if there's another option that I am certain will provide me what I want. Conversely, if they're reliable and require little effort, I am much more likely to grow to depend on them habitually.

I think that's probably the deal with a lot of 24-hour businesses. Letting it be known that you're always open may make sense even if the overnight hours aren't always profitable. I suspect it's true for diners, for instance, and New York bodegas. Insomniacs drinking coffee aren't paying the bills, but they'll come back for lunch or breakfast. Bars also often seem to stay open as late as they legally can, even if it'…

> Letting it be known that you're always open may make sense even if the overnight hours aren't always profitable

Pharmacies too. People are more likely to fill their prescriptions at a place that never closes.

Even if it’s not profitable to be open, there’s always some work that can be assigned to take load off the day shift.

And if shelves are stocked overnight or deliveries are received at night, there were some people there anyway already.

Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#78

Post by pyrale »

wiggler00m wrote: post #69

One advantage of the prolific Japanese convenience store (or "konbini") is that any improvement in the underlying franchise system can be rapidly deployed to all franchisees (like nodes in a network). This is true of many franchises, but the konbini are exceptionally prolific, so this effect is magnified. For example, if there is an opportunity to increase efficiency, or reduce costs or environmental impact, it would…

I guess smaller opening times would also solve the issue. I have yet to understand why societies tolerate such things as stores open at 3am, given the productivity it has, and the implications for workers.

Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#79

Post by dang »

delhanty wrote: post #30

Even for HN, these are some of the most empathy-deficient comments that I've ever read. Yes, it's true that there is a huge problem with overwork for the franchisees. But those stores aren't there (just) for you. Imagine this scenario: you're over 80, living on your own and not very mobile. The fact that there's a 7-eleven within 100 metres that sells a large variety of foodstuffs and essential items in single portio…

> Even for HN, these are some of the most empathy-deficient comments that I've ever read.

That seems badly exaggerated, unless I'm missing some horrible comments. As for "Even for HN": this is the kind of putdown of the community that I feel compelled to respond to, since no one else will. Yes, people post unpleasant things to Hacker News, often without realizing it. But the overwhelming majority of users here are far from empathy-deficient, and relative to the rest of the public internet, particularly not. You might be running afoul of the paradox of HN being a non-siloed community, which I wrote about here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19931510.

Putting down or dissing the community that you're participating in is actually a subtle form of vandalism: why should we bother taking care of it if it sucks so much anyhow? It's also a way of keeping one's distance from others: I'm not really part of this icky group—I'm here, but I'm better. Actually anyone here is as much a part of it as anyone else, and while many things happen that make one cringe, so do many things that bring out good in people. We should focus on the latter, because what we focus on grows, and the community's image of itself is pretty shaky. On HN, we also value social cohesion, and that involves bridging a great many wide divides. Only so much of that is possible, but it's precious and deserves taking care of.

Edit: sorry if it feels like I'm picking on you personally. That's not my intent at all. Your comment was otherwise excellent and the information you shared made this thread much better. I'm sorry to distract from that by responding to the least relevant bit. I hate doing that actually. But it's sort of a death by a thousand cuts thing, so we have to respond somewhere.

Re: The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

#80

Post by danmaz74 »

ken wrote: post #68
bane wrote: post #3

Just came back from Japan and man are there too many convenience stores. Within any given area there is probably 6 to 7 stores within eyeshot and an easy walk. It's weird thinking that they are too convenient, but honestly they start to become pointless. More than once we simply walked by a few knowing that there would be another one just a minute or two more down the street. It's great that we could find something t…

Compared to what? Here in the USA there are several places within walking distance from my home that have a Starbucks across the street from another Starbucks. One of them is an intersection where 3 of the 4 corners have a Starbucks. There's at least one building here with 2 Starbucks in it, in case taking the elevator is too much hassle. Japan doesn't sound all that much different in this respect.

Are Starbucks [in the US] open 24/7?

Edit: added [in the US].

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