Japan’s Seven & I Holdings has plans to triple the number of its Ito Yokado stores in China’s inland regions by 2020, reports Nikkei Asia.
Capitalising on the region’s growing middle-class consumers, Seven & I Holdings will open up to ten stores in China’s Sichuan Province, and launch new stores across Chengdu in coming years.
Nikkei has reported that Ito Yokado will also venture online, setting up its own company to sell imported Japanese goods via Sichuan Province’s new free trade zone.
While Ito Yokado sees opportunities to expand in Chengdu, it closed its supermarkets in Beijing last year after facing competition from local and foreign retailers.
