A new mobile c-store concept rolls into areas in Japan that are left without c-store access after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, as well as other food deserts in the country.
Family Mart, a major c-store chain in Japan is launching a new fleet of mobile convenience store trucks to provide services to tsunami hit areas across the northeast Tohoku region, the UK Telegraph reported.
The project aims to reach the worst disaster impacted regions where shops have been destroyed.
The mobile stores, which debut this month, were designed to hold up to 300 individual food and household items, ranging from boxed lunches to fresh vegetables and cups of noodles, and customers can walk right into the space, which includes the look of a typical c-store with identical baskets and shelving, to shop.
The trucks are fitted with a power generator in order to operate for a week without refueling. The stores are scheduled to stop in three different locations each day, opening from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., and can to take orders from customers.
Three new mobile convenience store trucks will be launched later this month across the northeast region, with plans to expand the fleet to as many as 100 within the coming year, the UK Telegraph reported.
“We hope to support recovery in disaster-hit areas and also, in future, support areas where it is currently inconvenient for shopping,” a Family Mart spokeswoman told the Daily Telegraph.
Following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, many major Japanese convenience store operators toured the region in makeshift trucks to bring essential foods to displaced victims. Family Mart ‘s mobile trucks, however, were in the planning stages even before March 11, with a goal of bringing c-store access to the most remote regions in the country.