Japan's second-ranked mobile telco to buy convenience store chain from Mitsubishi

Japan's second-largest convenience store will be taken private by its second-largest mobile carrier, which will operate it as a joint venture with Mitsubishi and try to cash in on a combination of shopping and location data. The carrier is KDDI, which owns around 30 percent of the Japanese mobile market and took in $38 billion …

[Scotthva5]

At least they're upfront about the data slurping. "Targeted advertising and location tracking with that soda ma'am?"

[tekverse]

"self-serve fuelling facilities"?

I've driven 100s of thousands of km in Japan and the sight of convenience stores combined with "fueling facilities" is extremely uncommon.

It's a natural combination so I've always found the lack of them a bit puzzling, but I assure you, it's not typical here.

[albaleo]

Re: "self-serve fuelling facilities"?

I get your point - most convenience stores are on urban streets with little space. But the last three Lawsons I visited in Japan (albeit a few years ago) had petrol stations - one in Sakai (Osaka prefecture), one in Ehime, and one in Saitama. Oddly, I didn't drive to any of them, I was just walking by.

[Mr. V. Meldrew]

Pardon the pun??

"processing used oil dumped at Lawson stores to fuel (pardon the pun) a biodiesel operation."

Sorry no pun there. Or maybe I'm missing something....

[Anonymous Coward]

I prefer E. E. Lawson myself

E. E. Lawson at the general store

Highway K with the red front door

A pot belly stove and a hardwood floor

You call E. E. Lawson and what does he send?

He sends eggs, chicks, chicks and hens…