ÆON Kisofukushima

ÆON Kisofukushima (イオン木曽福島店) is a general merchandise store (GMS) located in Kiso, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, and operated by ÆON Retail Co., Ltd., a core company of the ÆON Group. The store sits along Prefectural Route 461, about a ten-minute walk from Kiso-Fukushima Station on the JR Central Chuo Main Line. It serves the Kiso Valley area with a food hall and an apparel hall, connected by two ground-floor passages, and offers both surface and rooftop parking. The store's history reaches back to 1910, when Kojima Kihee established Kojima Shoten, a limited partnership selling marine products, sundries, liquor, and hardware. In 1961 a supermarket called Ojimaya Super opened in Kiso-Fukushima. Through a series of mergers involving Nagano Sunmart, Shinshu Sunmart, and Allied Shinshu, the store became Allied Shinshu Kiso Ekimae in 1981. It was renamed Mycal Shinshu in 1996, and in 2000 its operations were absorbed by Mycal Corporation. In 2003 the store became Kiso-Fukushima Saty, and on March 1, 2011, it was rebranded as ÆON Kisofukushima following the conversion of the Saty chain to the ÆON banner. Today the store operates as part of ÆON's nationwide retail network, offering groceries, apparel, and daily necessities. Its food hall is a single-story building with a rooftop parking deck, while the two-story apparel hall carries clothing and household goods. The store has no elevators or escalators, and its only tenant is a bakery. As a local GMS under the ÆON Retail umbrella, it represents the long evolution of regional supermarket chains into the modern ÆON group.

The store's origins lie in 1910, when Kojima Kihee founded Kojima Shoten (合資会社小島商店) as a limited partnership at 305 Fukushima-machi, Nishichikuma District, Nagano Prefecture, with capital of 500 yen. The business sold marine products, sundries, liquor, and hardware. In 1961, a supermarket named Ojimaya Super (おじまやスーパー) opened at 5066-1 Kiso-Fukushima-machi, Kiso District. In 1978, Nagano Sunmart, a joint venture between local firm Kojimaya Shoji and NAC, opened Sunmart Ojimaya Ekimae. In April 1979, Marugon Co., Ltd. merged with Nagano Sunmart and Nagano Mart to form Shinshu Sunmart, and in June of that year it merged with Kojimaya Shoji, bringing the store under its operation. In June 1981, Shinshu Sunmart merged with Ichikawa Family Department Store of Saku to become Allied Shinshu, and the store was renamed Allied Shinshu Kiso Ekimae. It was later renamed Ask Kiso-Fukushima. In 1996, Allied Shinshu changed its name to Mycal Shinshu, and in November 2000, Mycal Shinshu was absorbed by its parent Mycal Corporation, transferring operations. On March 1, 2003, the store was renamed Kiso-Fukushima Saty. On March 1, 2011, following the conversion of the Saty chain to the ÆON brand, it became ÆON Kisofukushima. The store is now operated by ÆON Retail Co., Ltd.

• Kojima Shoten founded as a limited partnership in Fukushima-machi, Nagano.

• Ojimaya Super supermarket opens in Kiso-Fukushima.

• Sunmart Ojimaya Ekimae opens under Nagano Sunmart.

• Store comes under Shinshu Sunmart following mergers.

• Renamed Allied Shinshu Kiso Ekimae after merger.

• Company renamed Mycal Shinshu.

• Operations transferred to Mycal Corporation via absorption merger.

• Store renamed Kiso-Fukushima Saty.

• Store renamed ÆON Kisofukushima as Saty converts to ÆON.

Local general merchandise store serving the Kiso Valley under the ÆON banner.

• Groceries

• Apparel

• Daily necessities

• Bakery goods

1. 1イオン木曽福島店 - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org
2. 2ÆON Kisofukushima - Wikidatawikidata.org