Ito-Yokado Kitami, which opened in 1985 and has long served as the kitchen of the Okhotsk area, has announced it will close at the end of August 2024. This will be the third Ito-Yokado closure in Eastern Hokkaido, following the Kushiro store in 2019 and the upcoming Obihiro store closure scheduled for June 2024. As this long-established supermarket, a leader of its time, prepares to vanish from Eastern Hokkaido, we look back on the history of Ito-Yokado in Hokkaido and the journey of the Kitami store.

Ito-Yokado Stores in Hokkaido on a Steady Decline

The history of Ito-Yokado in Hokkaido began in 1975 with the opening of its first store in Obihiro. Subsequently, stores opened in Sapporo, Tomakomai, Ebetsu, and Asahikawa, and by around 2000, there were 15 stores operating throughout Hokkaido. Now, more than 20 years later, according to the business plan of Seven & i Holdings, the parent company of Ito-Yokado, a series of closures of unprofitable regional stores is underway due to a policy of concentrating capital in the Tokyo metropolitan area and closing down local outlets.

In Eastern Hokkaido, the Obihiro store is set to close in June 2024, and with the subsequent closure of the Kitami store in August 2024, Ito-Yokado will disappear entirely from the region.

The Kitami Store, Opened in 1985, Also Promoted Local Products

The Ito-Yokado Kitami store opened in February 1985. Long beloved by the local community, it signed a partnership agreement with the city of Kitami in 2016 to expand sales channels for local products and promote local consumption. This increased the opportunities for customers to find local goods in the store. Additionally, it hosted numerous community-focused events, such as markets held several times a month where local artisans gathered to sell their handmade crafts, and events where agricultural high school students sold vegetables and processed goods they had grown themselves.

The closure of the Ito-Yokado Kitami store means the end of these community-based events, which is sad news for those who looked forward to them.