Japanese supermarkets will expand closures for New Year holidays

Supermarkets in Japan plan to stay closed longer than usual during the New Year holidays in order to relieve staff workers of the heavy burden of taking action against coronavirus infection.

Movements are also part of work-style reform efforts.

At the main Life Corp. grocery store, all of its approximately 280 stores will remain closed for two days through Jan. 2. In 2021, all Life stores were closed on New Year’s Day, but some reopened the next day.

Rivals Yaoko Co., Summit Inc. and Inageya Co. they will increase by one the number of closed days of ordinary years, closing almost all stores during the first three days of 2021.

General supermarket Ito-Yokado Co., a unit of Seven & I Holdings Co., will keep 33 stores closed for New Year’s Eve, nearly double the previous January 1 figure. It will continue to seek customer cooperation to avoid overcrowding.

Stores run by rivals Aeon Co. and Seiyu GK will be open on New Year’s Day.

Most department stores, including those at Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. and J. Front Retailing Co., will close on New Year’s Day, as they were in 2021.

Takashimaya Co. will suspend in-store sales fukubukuro (New Year’s lucky bags) for two days from January 2nd.

However, convenience stores will remain open during the holiday period.

Some stores Seven-Eleven Japan Co. and Lawson Inc. they closed or shortened their trading hours during New Year’s Day earlier this year.

But on Jan. 1, “convenience stores are expected to increase customer traffic due to the closure of supermarkets and restaurants,” a large chain official said.

Seven-Eleven and FamilyMart Co. they will keep all stores open, while Lawson will only close about 85 stores in business districts and other areas that are expected to reduce the number of customers.