Major Japanese convenience store chain Seven-Eleven is set to open a store with a brand-new concept unlike any before. Opening on October 30, 2025, in Hoshino Village, Yame City, Fukuoka Prefecture, the “Seven-Eleven Yame Hoshino Village Store” is the company’s first-ever “community co-creation store.” This is more than just a new store opening; it’s drawing attention as a groundbreaking initiative demonstrating how convenience stores can contribute to solving the challenges faced by rural Japan.
A New Challenge for Japanese Convenience Stores: What is a “Community Co-Creation Store”?
The reason this new store is named “community co-creation” is deeply tied to the characteristics and challenges of the area where it’s located. A “community co-creation store” is a store established in partnership with local government, with the primary goal of solving issues in areas where shopping is inconvenient. This marks the first time Seven-Eleven has opened a store with the main focus on addressing regional challenges.
Challenges Faced by a Beautiful Mountain Village
Hoshino Village in Yame City, Fukuoka, where the store is opening, is a particularly mountainous area within the city. While known for its beautiful nature and starry skies, it has seen a significant population decline and aging in recent years. As a result, local residents, especially the elderly, have had limited places to buy daily groceries and necessities, making shopping itself a major burden. This situation, often called the “shopping refugee” problem, is becoming a serious issue in many rural parts of Japan. The people living in the area have long hoped for a retail store they could use daily.
An Unconventional Partnership Between Government and Convenience Store
To solve this problem, the goals of Yame City, which wants to improve the lives of its residents, and Seven-Eleven, which aims to develop stores rooted in the local community, aligned. The two parties signed an “Agreement on Shopping Support Project in Yame City” in March 2025. Based on this agreement, an unprecedented cooperative system was realized where Yame City provides and prepares the land for the store, and Seven-Eleven builds and operates it. This can truly be called a new model case of a public-private partnership tackling regional challenges.
A Special Seven-Eleven Just for Hoshino Village
Because the “Seven-Eleven Yame Hoshino Village Store” is specifically focused on supporting the lives of local people, its product selection and services have been specially tailored.
A Product Lineup Reflecting the Voices of Local Residents
In addition to Seven-Eleven’s signature original products like onigiri rice balls, sandwiches, and bento boxes, this store is stocked with items that were in particularly high demand from local residents. A key feature is the wide selection of ice cream and frozen foods, which were previously difficult to purchase nearby. This is expected to greatly expand daily meal options. The store will carry about 1,500 items, offering fried foods, freshly brewed coffee from Seven Café, and even Seven Café smoothies. Furthermore, a multi-copy machine will be installed for paying utility bills and issuing various tickets, truly serving as a piece of the local infrastructure.
Store Details
Store Name: Seven-Eleven Yame Hoshino Village Store
Location: 5219-9 Hoshino-mura, Yame-shi, Fukuoka-ken
Opening Date and Time: Thursday, October 30, 2025, at 7:00 AM
Business Hours: 6:00 AM – 10:00 PM
The fact that the store is not open 24 hours can also be seen as an operational style tailored to the local lifestyle. While compact with a sales floor area of about 77 square meters, it is a condensed space filled with essentials for the residents’ lives.
The opening of the “Seven-Eleven Yame Hoshino Village Store” symbolizes the evolution of Japanese convenience stores from mere retail outlets to vital hubs that coexist with local communities and support people’s lives. This new form of convenience store, which not only pursues convenience but also addresses societal challenges, is likely to attract attention from all over Japan and around the world. If you ever have the chance to travel to Fukuoka Prefecture, why not visit this special Seven-Eleven that reflects the future of Japan’s local communities?
八女市と連携した地域課題の解決に向けた買物支援『セブン‐イレブン八女星野村店』オープン ～セブン‐イレブン初となる「地域共創型店舗」～
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