7-Eleven
Kellogg Operations
Kellogg Graduate School of Management ■ Northwestern University Logistics an Supply Chain Management
This note was written by Sunil Chopra, Professor of Operations Management, Kellogg Graduate School of Management,
Northwestern University. This writeup has been prepared as a basis for class discussion.
Copyright 2000 by Kellogg Graduate School of Management. To order copies, call (847) 491-3603. No part of this
publication may be reproduced without the permission of the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
SEVEN-ELEVEN JAPAN CO.1
Established in 1973, Seven-Eleven Japan set up its first store in May 1974, in Koto-ku,
Tokyo. The company was first listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 1979. It is owned by
the Ito-Yokado group which also manages a chain of supermarkets in Japan and owns a majority share
in Southland, the company managing Seven-Eleven in the US. The last ten years have been a period
of phenomenal growth for Seven-Eleven Japan. Between 1985 and 1994, the number of stores
increased from 2,299 to 5,523; sales increased from 386 billion Yen to 1,282 billion Yen; Net income
increased from 9 billion Yen to 46 billion Yen. In 1994, Seven-Eleven Japan ranked first among
Japanese retailers in terms of ordinary profit. The return on equity (ROE) has averaged well over 20%
over the last ten years. Seven-Eleven Japan is currently Japan’s largest retailer in terms of operating
income and number of stores. In 1994, customer visits to Seven-Eleven outlets totaled 1.8 billion,
which translates to every person in Japan visiting a Seven-Eleven on average 15 times a year!
Company History and Profile
Both Ito-Yokado and Seven-Eleven Japan were founded by Mr. Masatoshi Ito. He started his retail
empire after the second world war, when he joined his mother and elder brother to work in a small
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