Seibu Department Stores Ltd. is considering a wide-ranging business tieup with collapsed Sogo Co. in a move that could lead to a merger and herald an era of retail industry realignment, industry sources said Saturday.
A tieup between Seibu and Sogo, which filed for court protection from creditors last month to rehabilitate itself, would create the largest department store chain in terms of sales in Japan as their combined annual sales total about 1.7 trillion yen, the sources said.
The alliance would include joint product procurement, sharing of supply and distribution centers, and personnel exchanges, the sources said.