Ailing supermarket chain operator Daiei Inc. said Monday it will shut down its stores in Chiba Prefecture's Narita and Kisarazu and four other outlets by the end of February as part of a rehabilitation program that will shutter a total of 32 shops.

While the closure of the stores, which will begin on Jan. 31, will result in losses of some 9 billion yen, the loss was included in earnings projections for the business year ending in February, Daiei said.

The rehabilitation plan was announced last month. The firm has so far named 19 of the 32 and will announce the remainder early next year, company officials said.

The Daiei group is saddled with interest-bearing debts totaling nearly 2 trillion yen.

Daiei said it will convene an extraordinary meeting of shareholders Jan. 30 to seek their endorsement for a plan to reshuffle its top management.

While six board members, including former Chairman Isao Nakauchi and former President Tadasu Toba, will resign, the firm will appoint adviser Jiro Amagai chairman and Kunio Takagi president, according to the plan.

While Takagi will be responsible for managing Daiei, Amagai will lead the retail giant's external relations on the strength of his experience as a Ministry of International Trade and Industry bureaucrat.

Nakauchi will assume the honorary title of "founder," Daiei said, adding that he will take his retirement package after management turns the company around.

The changes also include the appointment to vice chairman of Takashi Hirayama, a former Daiei executive and current president of Niko Niko Do Co., a retail chain operator based in Kumamoto.

Hirayama will return to Daiei under a tieup with Niko Niko Do agreed upon earlier in the day.