--FILE--A pedestrian walks past a convenience store of Lawson in Chongqing, China, 14 December 2013. It can feel like there is a convenience store on every street corner in Japan, but according to the head of number two operator Lawson there is still massive potential for growth. °The first question from foreign investors is always: ®When is the saturation point? You guys are opening up like crazy¯, ± said Genichi Tamatsuka in an interview with the Financial Times. °®Not yet, ¯ I tell them, ± he said. Mr Tamatsuka¯s comments are a reminder that despite Japan¯s difficult demographics there are still opportunities in what remains an enormous retail market. Lawson plans to open 1, 200 new stores in Japan this year on top of its existing 12, 000, while closing 750, for a net increase of more than one shop a day. Mr Tamatsuka argues that it is the very ageing and depopulation of rural Japan that creates an opening. International expansion is the other growth area for Lawson, which like many Japanese retailers is trying to export its level of customer service. It has 500 stores in China and nascent chains in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
