In 1996, the large Japanese supermarket Ito-Yokado entered China and today (November 10, same below) officially closed its “Huafu Avenue store” in Chengdu, Sichuan. This is the third store the company has closed in China this year, leaving only 7 stores in the country. Reports indicate that Ito-Yokado is adjusting its business in China by closing stores that have been incurring losses in order to accelerate improving the profitability of its operations in China.
According to reports and online information, the store closed by Ito-Yokado today is the “Food Life Pavilion – Huafu Avenue store” opened in Chengdu in 2018, which was a comprehensive supermarket selling food, daily necessities, clothing, and other goods. The closure is attributed to factors such as stagnation in personal consumption in China and the rise of online supermarkets, leading to continuous low sales.
Ito-Yokado stated that the decision to close this particular store was based on changes in the surrounding environment and customer traffic, taking into account future business strategies.
Ito-Yokado responded to an invitation from the Chinese government and the Chengdu Municipal Government in 1996 to establish a subsidiary, “Chengdu Ito-Yokado.” In 1997, the company opened its first store in Chengdu and established “Huatang Yokado” in Beijing the same year, making Chengdu and Beijing its main business locations in China.
In recent years, Ito-Yokado’s performance in China has been continuously declining. By the end of February this year, the “Ito Plaza store” in Chengdu was closed, followed by the closure of the “Financial City store” in Chengdu in June. After the closure of the “Huafu Avenue store” today, the company only has 6 stores in Chengdu and 1 in Beijing. The sole remaining store in Beijing, the “Asian Games Village store,” was downsized from a comprehensive supermarket to a food supermarket in April.
(Central News Agency translation)