Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The realities of 'owning' a Japanese convenience store

japantimes.co.jp

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 233 posts

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

#91

Post by gambiting »

CydeWeys wrote: post #16

I was just in Japan two weeks ago, and convenience stores were omnipresent. I'll admit, it was incredibly convenient, as I never went for lack of food or water, and I got into habit of grabbing a beer and a snack every night to take back to my hotel room before bed. I was relying on them (and vending machines) pretty heavily for coffee and green tea throughout the day as well. There were way too many convenience stor…

Pharmacies in Poland all operate on this rotating schedule, where at least one pharmacy in town is open 24h(they always post a sign saying where the nearest 24h pharmacy is). I have no idea if it's by law or just a thing that everyone does.

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

#92

Post by Moru »

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…

That's interesting with the EV's, a local cab company just went bust and they claimed it was the large repair costs that did them in. That and the closest workshop that could service them was 600 km away. I'm not sure how they would even get the thought of starting a cab service 600 km from the closest garage that could service the cars but that's another question...

The local 7-Eleven also went bust yesterday, together with their other store just a few blocks away. That corner of the city has plenty of other stores so it can't be easy to keep afloat. Town only has about 100 k people. (North Sweden)

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

#93

Post by hulahoof »

rangibaby wrote: post #20
CydeWeys wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Japan (really Tokyo, I guess) stopped being truly 24-hours post 2011 earthquake." Really? This surprises me, given that the population of Tokyo has only continued to rise since then, and Tokyo wasn't nearly as badly affected as many other parts of Japan. How long did the power issues last following the earthquake, and why would they still continue to have effects so many years later?

The effects of the Lehman shock and 3/11 disaster hit the middle class hard, the blame is pointed at millennials for being thrifty (Why aren't young people buying luxury cars? Why do young people buy everything second hand?), but the reality is that middle class Japanese have less disposable income than 10,20, and especially 30 years ago

Seems to be the recurring theme to blame millennials for the hardships of the middle class globally.

I wonder if any developed countries middle class is faring well currently?

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

#94

Post by ovi256 »

gambiting wrote: post #91
CydeWeys wrote: post #16

I was just in Japan two weeks ago, and convenience stores were omnipresent. I'll admit, it was incredibly convenient, as I never went for lack of food or water, and I got into habit of grabbing a beer and a snack every night to take back to my hotel room before bed. I was relying on them (and vending machines) pretty heavily for coffee and green tea throughout the day as well. There were way too many convenience stor…

Pharmacies in Poland all operate on this rotating schedule, where at least one pharmacy in town is open 24h(they always post a sign saying where the nearest 24h pharmacy is). I have no idea if it's by law or just a thing that everyone does.

Yes, this is by law and it's a requirement for having a pharmacy operating license.

Fun fact: in most of the world, medical personal like pharmacists can't go on strike.

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

#95

Post by AmVess »

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…

Chick-fil-A and McDonald's are two of the better ones. They don't give them to just anyone, and are careful about locations, too. To become a franchisee with them ,you have to have a proven record of success and have plenty of money in the bank.

Rule of thumb: the easier it is to obtain a franchise, the less it is worth.

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

#96

Post by Moru »

icebraining wrote: post #85
ako wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you really sure that capitalism will reduce global poverty? The core of capitalism is competition. This may result in higher quality and larger choice, but if these are sufficient enough it will in the end result in lower prices. This has to be done through efficiency but will also result in lower wages. I think unconstrained, uncontrolled capitalism will result in 90% of the global population working very low in…

> I think unconstrained, uncontrolled capitalism will result in 90% of the global population working very low income, replaceable jobs, or being completely replaced by automation. I think that's likely; after all, capitalism already replaced the jobs of 90% of the developed world population with automation and other efficiencies: that's why most of us no longer work in agriculture. Now, was that a net negative develo…

It was for the unemployed farmers help that is no longer needed and is now stuck with a house in a town where the prices have dropped way below the mortage on the house and 60 km to the closest store/gas station.

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

#97

Post by Klonoar »

innocenat wrote: post #62
Klonoar wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand if those places seem amenable to you, but I (and pretty much everyone I know who lived there long term) wouldn't set foot in one of those past their college years. They're horrible for your body. I'd sooner eat conbini food and pass out. The late night pubs do exist, sure, but a lot of them stay open to capture any foot traffic from people missing their last train around midnight. Most don't serve full m…

> I understand if those places seem amenable to you, but I (and pretty much everyone I know who lived there long term) wouldn't set foot in one of those past their college years. They're horrible for your body. I'd sooner eat conbini food and pass out. Regularly see elders in my local Yoshinoya. The Beef-Salmon set is good.

I mean, no - the elders being there doesn't make it worth going to. If McDonalds wasn't worldwide I'd go so far as to liken Yoshinoya to a McDonalds.

Peek in a McDonalds and you'll see old people too. Doesn't make it good for you.

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

#98

Post by jkirsteins »

jorblumesea wrote: post #46
patio11 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I understand what a franchise is. McDonald's regularly changes its menu, removing items that do not perform. McDonald's franchise owners can run menu items in areas that make sense for them. Hours for McDonald's are set based on demand and largely up to the franchise owner. There are many examples of franchises allowing flexibility within the brand while still adhering to the brand ideals. It sounds like 7-11 corpora…

Different franchises have different brand promises.

McDonald’s can maybe change its menu, and close at odd hours. They can’t, however, have their Big Macs taste different in Paris, London, or Riga. Nor can they remove the Big Mac from the menu outright, and serve only vegetarian spring rolls. That’s their brand promise, and they will not compromise on this.

If 7/11 has “we’re always open” as their brand promise, they will not compromise on it, even though they might be willing to meet owners halfway on other issues.

It’s not a great situation, especially for the poor guy pulling near-useless all-nighters. It seems understandable, though, why it’s happening.

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

#99

Post by barking »

gambiting wrote: post #91
CydeWeys wrote: post #16

I was just in Japan two weeks ago, and convenience stores were omnipresent. I'll admit, it was incredibly convenient, as I never went for lack of food or water, and I got into habit of grabbing a beer and a snack every night to take back to my hotel room before bed. I was relying on them (and vending machines) pretty heavily for coffee and green tea throughout the day as well. There were way too many convenience stor…

Pharmacies in Poland all operate on this rotating schedule, where at least one pharmacy in town is open 24h(they always post a sign saying where the nearest 24h pharmacy is). I have no idea if it's by law or just a thing that everyone does.

Being a pharmacy contracted to dispense public health service prescriptions is probably contingent on either providing out-of-hours service or being part of a rota that does that. It's that way in lots of countries.

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

#100

Post by Kurtz79 »

karaokeyoga wrote: post #53
ekianjo wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Within any given area there is probably 6 to 7 stores within eyeshot and an easy walk. That's just Tokyo and it's a very biased impression. Most places in Japan don't have that kind of density of combinis. I there there are about 55 000 combini in Japan, and there's probably 20% of that in Tokyo alone so you were in an area that's not representative of japan as a whole. In most other other cities there's rarely mor…

From my place in suburban Kyoto, there are five 7-11s within a ten-minute walk. Ten years ago, there was one.

I was in Kobe a few weeks ago and it was the same, all over the city center.

As a consumer honestly there is little to complain, they ARE very convenient.

But grandparent is correct: a lot of items are expensive for what they are (some of the "fresh" meals cost as much as a eating in a normal ramen/noodle place on the street), so you pay for the convenience.

Post reply on HN