Ailing retailer Daiei Inc. on Wednesday announced a plan to open its first new outlets in more than two years and strengthen ties with an affiliate chain.
The scheme, for the fiscal year to February, came just over a year after the firm unveiled its three-year revival plan and is viewed by many industry watchers as further indication of the chain's deepening troubles.
"In the past year, we have been able to make progress with reorganization in finance and group operations," Daiei President Kunio Takagi said at a news conference in Tokyo. "But unfortunately, we fell short of (supermarket) sales targets."