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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

#111

Post by bkor »

ovi256 wrote: post #94
gambiting wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Are you sure about that fact? Pharmacists went on strike in Netherlands this year. Another reply mentioned Poland. It seems there's no EU rule, or maybe it's more that some still need to be open.

The majority of what a pharmacy provides is repeat customers anyway. Despite regular customers planning badly pretty much all the time, the majority gets their medicine for a minimum of various weeks.

The participation of the strike in Netherlands wasn't high. It was pretty last minute idea by one frustrated worker. The reason was the increase in the aggression towards the people working in a pharmacy.

Source: I know someone working in a pharmacy.

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

#112

Post by agent008t »

Freak_NL wrote: post #73
CydeWeys wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Are you kidding? The warm vending machine corn soup is the best thing in winter!

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

#113

Post by bkor »

ilaksh wrote: post #82

It seems like 7 Eleven could help coordinate hours so that one owner could rest but a nearby store would be open at that time.

The article specifically states that 7/11 is preventing various stores from not being open 24/7. E.g. small store, wife is utterly ill, 7/11 doesn't care; store needs to stay open.

It seems they like the owner exhausted so they cannot do the things which makes sense. E.g. to sell the food which is close to the expiry date instead of throwing it out. Yet another example from the article.

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

#114

Post by twic »

RyJones wrote: post #29
CydeWeys wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I had the same experience. I had to try the hot canned coffee; I didn't try it again. Also: canned mixed drinks! Japan is truly living in the future.

> Also: canned mixed drinks! Japan is truly living in the future.

We've had those in the UK for years. No respectable lady would dream of boarding an intercity train without a M&S gin and tonic in a tin!

https://fortheloveofgin.co.uk/5-of-the-best-gins-in-tins/

https://thetab.com/2016/05/27/tested-best-supermarket-gin-to...

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

#115

Post by mft_ »

Tharkun wrote: post #76
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…

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.

I don't want to cast aspersions on Belgium, but that's atypical. My experience is that wherever you are in the world, McDonald's is usually reliable for its food (you know what you're getting, even if you're not a huge fan of it) and its decent toilets.

(I admit there may be some residual rose-tinted-ness to my opinion here, after staying on a Greek island years ago; after days struggling with the idiosyncratic local toilets (stinking holes in the floor; dirty paper in a bin, not flushed) the clean porcelain throne in the McDonald's in the capital was like an oasis in the desert...)

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

#116

Post by rsynnott »

RyJones wrote: post #29
CydeWeys wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I had the same experience. I had to try the hot canned coffee; I didn't try it again. Also: canned mixed drinks! Japan is truly living in the future.

> canned mixed drinks! Japan is truly living in the future.

That's not just a Japanese thing. There was a minor and extremely silly political controversy a while back where someone took a photo of the British shadow Home Secretary drinking a canned mojito on a train.

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

#117

Post by mariuolo »

bkor wrote: post #111
ovi256 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Are you sure about that fact? Pharmacists went on strike in Netherlands this year. Another reply mentioned Poland. It seems there's no EU rule, or maybe it's more that some still need to be open. The majority of what a pharmacy provides is repeat customers anyway. Despite regular customers planning badly pretty much all the time, the majority gets their medicine for a minimum of various weeks. The participation of th…

> The reason was the increase in the aggression towards the people working in a pharmacy.

What kind of aggression?

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

#118

Post by mft_ »

It would seem that this is ripe for automation, no?

In fact, I've been surprised for some time that there hasn't been a greater development/proliferation in this area. It would seem that a large (room-sized) refrigerated vending machine offering a range equivalent to a small convenience store is already highly technologically feasible, and would probably be far more cost efficient (smaller footprint, much lower staffing requirements) than running a convenience store.

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

#119

Post by bkor »

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…

How does your example explain how it would benefit an 80+ person that a franchise is open 24/7 or maybe 07:00-23:00? Especially as the owners themselves seem to be pretty old and in poor health because of the opening times.

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

#120

Post by michaelt »

patio11 wrote: post #12
baroffoos wrote: post #6

The problem seems so obvious. There is far more supply than demand. Why do people keep opening these stores when it is clear no one wants them?

It’s not clear no one wants them, since there is little data available to an ex-salaryman looking to open one in a particular neighborhood and if you do an unsophisticated “just watch a store all day” competitive analysis both a thriving store and a struggling store appear busy at all hours of day and night. The franchisor is basically uniformly in favor of more locations since the franchisee bears most startup costs…

I guess it depends on how much data you'd expect someone to gather before opening a store.

I was under the impression opening a convenience store cost $50,000 or more, not an investment to make lightly IMHO. A few visits will tell you if the owner is working 16 hours a day 7 days a week, and you can estimate markups by looking at prices on the store shelves. And that's without looking for franchisees complaining online, or asking them in person.

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