Supermarket chain Ito-Yokado Co. is scaling back its plans to close over 30 stores by February 2009, an official with parent firm Seven & I Holdings Co. said Wednesday.
At the end of last year, the government outlined plans to bolster restrictions on the opening of large stores in suburbs starting in 2007. As a result, the mass retailer saw a need to keep more existing stores in operation.
In late August, Ito-Yokado said it would close just over 30 unprofitable supermarkets to revamp its operations.
But the number of closures may drop to around 20, given the more stringent regulations, industry sources said. The retailer has 180 stores.
In addition, some of the stores have improved their financial footing by overhauling their apparel segments or obtaining lower rents.
Some local governments and retailers are calling on Ito-Yokado to rethink its store closure plan because it could hurt area economies, the official said.