Mobile Convenience Stores Designed to Serve Japan's Earthquake Survivors
Family Mart Targets Residents in Tsunami-struck Japan
Six months after the earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan, things are still not back to normal for residents residing especially near the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Access to basic commodities especially food are still difficult and rehabiltiation efforts are still on a turtle pace. This scenario prompted shop owners led by Family Mart, one of Japan's major convenience store-chains, to launch this month three mobile convenience shops to rove around Fukushima, Iwate, and Miyage prefectures.
Other mobile shops have also initiated to deliver groceries especially food and other consumer goods on shifting schedule.
In a report on The Telegraph UK, the mobile shops are designed similarly to a walk-in convenience store.The truck has the capacity to hold 300 individual items like foods, beverages, confectionery, and a few household commodities. The mobile store is also designed to help perishable goods last longer.
People will only have to walk through the mobile convenience shop and pick up items from shelves using baskets similar to those seen in regular establishments.
Powered by propane gas and equipped with a power generator, the roving convenience store can travel for a week without stopping for refueling. Serving customers from 10 in the morning to 6 in the evening, the mobile shops will roam around three different locations each day, according to the Telegraph UK.
A spokesperson for Family Mart told reporters that the company originally aims to serve remote areas but as the March 11 tsunami devastated Tohoku region, a change of plan has been implemented to provide residents in the region access to food and other services.