Lawson Inc. is forging ahead with an aggressive plan to invest $30 million to open as many as 35 convenience stores on Oahu.
Takeshi Niinami, president and CEO of the Tokyo-based convenience store giant, said it is on track to open outlets largely concentrated in Waikiki and surrounding areas over the next five years. Niinami spoke Monday at a Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship lecture sponsored by the University of Hawaii Shidler College of Business.
The expansion would generate an estimated 700 jobs in the stores, not including support positions. Niinami said the company employs on average 20 workers per store.
"A lot of money is needed. We’re going to go out of the hotel areas," said Niinami, who spoke in fluent English. "We have more than 20 to 25 (potential sites) in Hawaii. We have to select from that. Not every one is suitable."
Simultaneously, Lawson plans to expand to the mainland, though Niinami didn’t have a clear plan on the timing or locations. The retailer also would consider acquiring property for the expansion, he added.
The company, whose largest shareholder is Mitsubishi Corp., opened its first two Lawson Station locations in the United States in July at the Sheraton Waikiki and Moana Surfrider, competing head to head with ABC Stores, which has about 40 locations in the Waikiki and Ala Moana areas.
The retailer, which opens as many as 800 stores per year in Japan, hopes to be profitable in a couple of years.
Lawson, which has a small manufacturing business that produces fresh food for the stores, is focusing its expansion solely on Oahu for now, Niinami said.
While Lawson’s target market is Japanese, Korean and Chinese tourists, its strategy has moved more toward focusing on local residents. The convenience store operator, which prides itself on fresh food, uses at least 15 local suppliers, Niinami said.
"We esteem local producers and suppliers very much. That’s our philosophy, to live with local society," he said. "In Hawaii that’s a prerequisite. We want to be local. We want to bring in new, innovative ideas, service and product offerings here to local customers. That’s the main goal. We want to be regarded as a very creative store brand."
Niinami said of competing with ABC, "We respect ABC a lot. We just want to learn from them. ABC sells a lot of souvenirs. I don’t think we can copy it because that’s their strength, so we just want to stay with the Lawson way, which is that we manufacture products fit for local customers. We want to learn much more about local needs."
Lawson has had a long history with the islands, aside from being a test market into the U.S.
"We’ve been sending franchisees on incentive trips (three times a year) for more 20 years," Niinami said. "Once they decide to renew contracts with 10-year terms, I bring them to Hawaii. Usually one group is more than 600 people. So our franchisees always ask me, ‘Why don’t you have stores?’ We love Hawaii — that’s really the story behind the scene."
The company owns three condominiums here, said the chief executive, who also has an affinity for the Aloha State.
"Sometimes a CEO has a strong passion based on (his) own affection, and definitely Hawaii is one place I wanted to have stores," Niinami said.
Lawson is Japan’s second-largest convenience store chain, behind 7-Eleven. Lawson has more than 11,000 outlets in Japan, China, Indonesia and Hawaii.
