Natural and Health-Conscious Convenience Store Now Expanding

Lawson, Inc., one of Japan's largest convenience store chains, has launched a new type of store it calls "Natural Lawson" in the Tokyo metropolitan area, based on the concept of becoming healthier by eating healthy every day. Since the opening of its flagship shop in July 2001, eight more stores were opened in Tokyo's up-scale neighborhoods, such as Jiyuugaoka, Minato Ward and Suginami Ward by December 2002.

To satisfy customer demand for health- and beauty-oriented food, Natural Lawson stores stock such products as unpolished rice, vegetables grown with less pesticides and delivered fresh from the farm, and processed food containing less additives than usual. Not only do the stores stock a large selection of food, they also make a great effort to provide information to customers by indicating on the shelves the number of calories, the additives, and best ways to use each item.

Another feature of the new "Natural Lawson" shops is an "Eat-In Corner" with menu items such as fresh juice and soup made from seasonal vegetables, and a vegetable-based Japanese soup-dish called "oden." This is the first attempt in a Japanese convenience store to give customers a place to enjoy health-conscious food on the spot.

Besides food, the lineup of other products also includes eco-friendly products certified by Japan's "Eco Mark," additive-free detergents, and so on. Compared to other convenience stores, the Natural Lawson shops are better designed to be "barrier-free," having wider entrances and no steps. The company states that they aim at being earth-friendly as well as human-friendly.



Posted: 2003/01/25 10:26:18 AM
Japanese version