There’s a very long list of reasons why we love Japanese convenience stores. Aside from having incredible food options available 24 hours a day, these lifesavers cater to our every need, offering clothing, ATMs and even services for us to buy event tickets and pay our bills. Furthermore, some konbini even have small eat-in spaces, where we can enjoy our food and drinks right after purchase.
Unfortunately, it looks like this convenience will soon become a rarity as FamilyMart, one Japan’s largest konbini chains, is planning to remove eat-in spaces at branches nationwide. Currently, about 7,000 Famima stores have these eat-in corners. However, they've been seeing less and less usage since the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to FamilyMart, these spaces will be converted into retail areas to meet customers’ needs. This includes stocking more items from the popular Convenience Wear clothing line as well as other home essentials like washing detergent and toilet paper.
While some branches may choose to keep their eat-in space, the push to remodel them into additional shelf space will be encouraged at all stores across Japan. For now, approximately 2,000 eat-in corners will be removed by the end of 2024.
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