Labor shortage a stress test for Japan’s 24/7 convenience stores | Reuters
By Sam Nussey and Ritsuko Shimizu | TOKYO TOKYO Japan’s growing labor shortage threatens the nation’s ubiquitous convenience stores, whose business model relies on an army of part-timers packing bento lunch boxes, manning cash registers and delivering goods 24/7. The big three “combini” operators 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson, which have expanded through Japan’s long slump, are scrambling to ease the pressure on franchisees by offering a mix […]