FamilyMart president Junji Ueda also reiterated in an interview with that news agency, however, that it has been moving faster than initially planned in its ambitious expansion in China, where it aims to have 4,500 outlets by the 2015-2016 March-February business year, [image-nocss] nearly 10 times the current number.
The company is aggressively expanding in Asia, but has faced a rocky road in the United States as it struggles to find a viable business model. Its 10 Famima stores, down from 12 in 2008, are located mainly in the Los Angeles area.
FamilyMart had been weighing several options, including expanding further or pulling out of the U.S. market, said the report.
But Ueda told Reuters that the firm would continue doing business in the United States and expected to start turning a profit there by around the 2018-2019 financial year.
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FamilyMart, like Seven & I Holdings, Lawson Inc. and other c-store chains in Japan, faces weak growth prospects in a competitive marketplace with a shrinking population and persistent profit-sapping deflation. The tough retail environment has prompted major c-store operators to step up their expansion overseas.
As of last month, FamilyMart had a little more than 8,000 franchises in Japan and more than 8,800 outlets overseas, including stores in China, South Korea and Southeast Asia. It is aiming for 15,500 overseas outlets among 25,000 stores globally by February 2016.
Torrance, Calif.-based Famima Corp. was founded in 2004 and is committed to bringing gourmet-quality c-stores to the U.S. market.
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