International News

TOKYO -- Am/pm, one of Japan's major 24-hour convenience stores, said it will open its first shop targeting women -- providing female customers with a shopping "comfort zone," reported Brudirect.com.

Am/pm will open the store Dec. 19 on a trial basis in Minato Ward, an office district in central Tokyo, and will staff it only with women except during the night, according to the report.

The store, called "Happily," will offer a women's restroom furnished with a dressing table and an aroma fragrance. Unlike most Japanese convenience stores, there will be no racks of adult men's magazines.

Compared with the average convenience store, am/pm will also provide more full meals, desserts, imported sweets, cosmetics and dietary supplements, Brudirect.com reported.

"There are things that women are unsatisfied with at convenience stores, such as more items being meant for men and the toilets. We've solved those issues," an am/pm spokesman said in the report.

He told Brudirect.com that the chain hoped to increase female customers at convenience stores that generally have 60 percent male clientele.

The company plans to open two more stores targeting women by the beginning of next year, he said in the report.

It will also open another convenience store that rents out more than 2,800 DVDs and sells about 1,000 books including business, magazine and comic genres. The entertainment-heavy convenience store will open in the residential Setagawa Ward, with two more planned to be open soon, according to the report.
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