Aeon joins Maruetsu and Marubeni
Aeon Co. has announced an alliance with grocery chain Maruetsu Inc. and trading house Marubeni Corp. to cooperate in merchandising and product development.
Aeon plans to draw on Maruetsu's expertise to expand operations in the Tokyo metropolitan area, where it lags in the number of outlets.
Together with Maruetsu, Aeon will account for more than 10% of food supermarket sales in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Maruetsu's grocery network, with about 240 outlets, is one of the largest in the Kanto region.
Aeon bought shares in Maruetsu from supermarket chain Daiei Inc. (one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan) in March. It plans to eventually buy more, aiming to replace Marubeni as the top shareholder of Maruetsu.
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