Convenience stores oppose calls for shorter business hours
TOKYO —
Japan’s convenience store industry hopes to continue operating their stores around the clock, an industry leader said Monday, rejecting calls for shorter business hours to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
By maintaining 24-hour operations, the industry hope to ensure convenience to consumers, Japan Franchise Association Chairman Kiyoshi Hijikata said.
Hijikata, chairman of Circle K Sunkus Co, made the remarks after the city of Kyoto and the prefectures of Saitama and Kanagawa asked convenience store chains to voluntarily give up late-night store operations to support the country’s efforts to curb global warming.
The requests are unfair to convenience stores, Hijikata said, adding that the industry hopes to make its contribution to the fight against global warming through other means.
Seven-Eleven Japan Co President Toshiro Yamaguchi, speaking at the same news conference, said he is sorry the municipalities made the requests without prior talks.
But Seven-Eleven Japan, a unit of Seven & i Holdings Co, will actively participate in discussions with the municipalities from now, Yamaguchi said.
Yamaguchi said he is not sure whether the company should comply with the requests because it did not know the full details.
The association estimates that the industry would be able to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by only 4% if it cuts store operating hours by one-third to 16 hours.
This is because refrigerators would have be kept on during the hours when stores were closed and trucking operations now conducted at night would have to be shifted to daytime, worsening traffic congestion, the association said.
Thanks to their 24-hour operations, convenience stores create many jobs while contributing to community anticrime efforts, according to the association.
The association expects sales would slump some 20% if store operating hours were reduced to 16 hours.
JCN
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20 Comments
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0
Beelzebub
At night, you can see a kombini from 500 meters away. They're like beacons. The least they can do is switch to LED lighting for their outdoor signs. I think the refrigerators and freezers have become more energy efficient, but I still wouldn't want to have to pay one store's power bill. They're energy hogs. I think of late the profit margins have become so slim for many stores they don't dare forfeit the extra revenues a few more hours would bring. It's a stick wicket.
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rajakumar
Shorter hours at convenience stores. Do not agree,it should run as normal. 24 hrs outlet, is good for people,it brighten ups streets .24 hours outlets,makes shopping very easy, if do not like busy hours shopping times.
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Zen_Builder
I think the idea of shortening hours is a bad idea for a few reasons:
1.) The energy savings will be less than expected. 2.) The Combini owners and operators will need to restructure their business completely costing them money and possible income. 3.)1/3 of the staff employed at the combini's will become unemployed and possible more as there will be fewer drivers, workers at factories, etc needed.
4.) Many of the combini's double as safety and refugee points in case of disasters and crimes. 5.) Forcing them to be open 7~23 will hurt a lot of workers that start early or finish late.
I know some were covered above.
Just don't think it is a good idea, otoh, replacing the lights with more environment friendly and energy savings alternatives sounds like a good idea. Maybe switch of some of the outside lights and only leave the logo illuminated.
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tkoind2
This is a bad idea. A tiny bandaid on a mortal wound.
Everyone should be looking for ways to reduce the amount of energy we use. But closing conbinis early and locking all the late and night working people out of resources is an idiotic suggestion.
A better solution would be to force buildings to reduce airconditioning usage. Fine places with open doors and cool breezes flowing outside.
If you really want to impact power consumption. Enforce labor laws and make companies close up at 8pm. Charge them carbon points for every active floor in their offices after 8pm and use the revenue to seek more green solutions for the city. This solves two problems by helping to reduce overwork and giving people time at home.
There are a lot of little ideas that will help. But this conbini idea shows a real lack of reality checking of what role the stores serve in society by the government.
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DeepAir65
I do not agree that it is necessarily a bad idea. Maybe it could be linked to sales - say they can stay open if 20% of their sales are between 2300 ~ 0500 or something like that.
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Kwaabish
"Enforce labor laws and make companies close up at 8pm."
That wouldn't work for all of us, especially since we're working in a global market and have to deal with differences in time zones. In essence, some of our offices are open 24 hours on different shifts...
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Zen_Builder
Agree with kwaabish.
There are lots of people working shifts or late like restaurant owners, restaurant staff, Taxi drivers, Cops, construction workers, etc.
Society has become active pretty much 24/7 these days.
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thepro
Hells no. I like being able to go and buy snacks and booze at 3am.
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Hughgarse
Why would they not just switch to a lower level of lighting before suggesting this?? daft gits...
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javnation
If people stopped breathing that would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions :) Maybe they ( prefectures )should suggest that. 20% may not sound like a large amount of business to loose, but when you are operating on very small margins it could be the difference between being in business and out of business. Then there would not be any convenience stores and that would cause people to have to drive to big supermarkets, as lets face it you have to travel you will buy for more than one day and then you will have to carry the goods by Taxi or car.
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asdfghjkl
There are other things they should concentrate on than convenient stores hours. good/safe 24hour convenient stores one of the good things about Japan and has more benefits than the CO2 emmision reduction. They should try and find other ways to reduce CO2 first. Must be some idiot behind a desk just says things without thinking it through properly. All the peoples tax money go to fund these idiots!
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takachan
japan would not be the same without 24-hour combinis. to save greenhouse emissions??!!! what a bunch of crock
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Richard_III
One of the things I hate about going to Europe on business is that the shops close at silly hours and if you can't get any toothpaste you're pretty much buggered and left with using little flints of wood like some wild savage.
I'm not surprised the killjoy environmentalists, many of whom have some misguided notion of returning the world to the early middle ages, would like forgetful travelling businessmen to have to use flints of wood to clean their teeth.
Japan is a beacon to the civilised world through it's conbeni stores which open around the clock. We should fight tooth and nail for them to remain so.
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Sarge
"shorter business hours"
They can call conbinis with shorter business hours "fu-conbini."
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Spidey
They can call conbinis with shorter business hours "fu-conbini."
I think "fu-bini" rolls off the tongue a little better. Don't you think, Sarge?
S
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KingsT
Well, I'll not be surprised if those on the higher level are glamouring for shorter hours for the conveniece stores because the never been there in the broad day light, how much more in the late night. They knows higher places they do their shoppings. So convenience stores exist or not they never care. Please, leave convenience stoers alone. If you want green house look for another alternative. convenience stores are for the less privilaged people like us. Therefore, your plans may not easily for you Because we'll down it down anyday any time.
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Wottock_Hunt
Send people home when the work day's done and you'll save a lot more energy than this, PLUS you might end up with an upturn in the birth rate. More children are conceived when the future father and mother can be awake in the same room for a bit.
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dw
Electricty is actually cheaper at night since less are using it.. what do you think happens - do you think the Power stations just stop producing whilst we're all asleep ?
Convenience stores,etc being open 24/7 is actually a part of Japan's society - long working hours mean that you often don't get to eat dinner until midnight - so where do you get it from at that time ?
What I thnk is needed, however, is a limit to the number of hours a person can work per day (if they work in an environment that has a 24/7 operation) and a number of guaranteed rest days per month. That, is only sensible.
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Kwaabish
"Send people home when the work day's done and you'll save a lot more energy than this, "
Well then, I hope you wouldn't mind all the trains, buses and cabs stopping service at much earlier hours, plus restaurants, stores and other service industries too shutting down at dusk... The point is, "work days" are not clearly defined any more...
0
borscht
Closing convenience stores at an early hour would be an interesting experiment. Like Richard III mentioned, one of the things I kind of liked about Europe was that stores closed early in the evening and on Sundays (at least in Austria) so that people are forced to either plan their shopping or go without.
And, since the stores are closed Sundays, people actually have to think of something else to do rather than walk around shopping malls. Maybe spend time with their families? (the horror!"
Of course, all this isn't going to effect greenhouse gases a bit, but it will be an interesting experiment - will family murders go up or down?
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