Japan Dept. Stores Close Loss-Making Outlets amid COVID-19

Tokyo, Sept. 1 (Jiji Press)--Japanese department store operators are closing their unprofitable outlets, with the novel coronavirus epidemic dealing a further blow to their businesses already suffering badly from a shrinking market.

On Monday, Sogo & Seibu Co. closed four department stores, including the Sogo store in the western Japan city of Tokushima.

Tokushima Prefecture has become the second prefecture in Japan that does not have a department store, following Yamagata Prefecture, northeastern Japan, where local department store Onuma closed in January.

On the same day, long-established regional department store operator Nakago Co. closed its store in the northeastern city of Fukushima, bringing an end to its 146-year history.

Making his last visit to the Nakago store, an 80-year-old man from Fukushima said he is worried that the central part of the city may lose its bustle following the store’s closure.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]