TOP 5 Sales Decor In A Japanese Combini

23 May 2007 Category: Features, Japan, Products

TOP 5 Sales Decor In A Japanese Combini

Flowers, tinsel - and beer. What do the three have in common...

Tinsel? Is it Christmas yet? Nope, it is just one more-than-enthusiastic promotional celebration of – a new food product. In probably the most consumer frenzied place on Earth, Tokyo, everything is grouped around shopping. Sounds awful. But no! If you, at one point, accept that, you gradually learn to adapt – and find yourself loving it in the end! Believe me… This is the only spot where hedonistic shopping soothes the soul, for 5 minutes at least. That is why today we will step a little closer to the wonderful silly promotional side effects that accompany new foods in the 24-hour supermarkets called Combini, short for “convenience store”.

Written by Verena

That word might sound Italian to you - I have the feeling that it is supposed to add a bit of a relaxed Mediterranean flair. Combini usually means one of the 24-hour chains like Family Mart, 7-Eleven, Sunkus, Lawson, am/pm, etc. Needless to say, convenience is everything in Japan, a country where you would never ever leave for a casual outdoor gathering like a Hanami picnic completely unprepared. So these are the 24/7 stores where you not only get everything to satisfy your nightly food craze but also stationary, rain coats, Hello Kitty paraphernalia - or paper panties.

1. Watch out for the green puppy!

This dog waits patiently for his waffle at the Family Mart right at the entrance to Harajuku’s Takeshita Dori, the epicentre of teenage fashion.

Imagine there is a new product, let’s say, a green tea-flavoured waffle. Wouldn’t it make so much sense to promote its introduction to the Family Mart franchise chain with a little green dog? In the world turned crazy around the Harajuku neighbourhood, a teenager’s heaven and my hell, this certainly makes total sense! And look at this oh-so-cute puppy, it even has something resembling a tea set next to it on the traditional patterned pillow. Too bad I didn’t catch its name so far. There is only one thing that I’ve been left wondering: the waffle doesn’t have a rich, dark and soothing green tone like moss, but the stingy green colour of green tea powder. And so does the dog! Have a cup of green tea with a waffle to meditate on that, then…

2. More than words can say…

The way to the soft drinks is garnered with blossoms… Seen at Newdays.

A lonely flower vase at 7-Eleven.

For Mother’s Day, seen at Sunkus.

You are in your thoughts walking down the isle to the beer fridge of this 7-Eleven store - and there is this lonely vase with flowers in saturated violet standing right on top of the shelf with the Genki drinks that save you from hangovers. Weird? Not at all. Look around and you will notice flowers growing rampant all over the Combini.

Next episode: you rush in a shop and reach for these interesting looking crackers, only to find a flower pot residing next to it on the shelf. Though always entirely made of plastic, this flowery note keeps you wondering what the shop’s intentions were. Where did it come from? There is no granny in sight who would have spared it from her side walk as it is common to extend the private flower garden to street.

Well, flowers can make you smile: If you dive briefly into psycho chitchat you might know that their colour triggers your brain in a nice way, evoking a feeling that goes beyond just stimulating the smell and sight senses. A plastic rose, a cherry blossom or a pink delicately draped around a bottle of O-Cha, green tea, just makes it so nice. Dangling tendrils, more than pink blossoms even next to a beer… But wait, we just passed Mother’s Day in May! Another excellent opportunity to garner a simple flyer for a flower delivery on that special day with a flower pot. Let them blossom at Sunkus…


Delicate tendrils at the fridge… Seen at Family Mart.

… fake grapes may imply: this is all about hedonistic shopping! Also seen at Family Mart.

3. Kitsch? We call it celebration!

Imagine there is a new beer thrown onto the shelves of 7-Eleven which is like any other beer, it just comes in a golden can. Somebody must have thought: What an excellent opportunity to celebrate this with a big party, consisting of bunches of golden tinsel and festoons, and arrange lots of cans around a huge one. [Check here, too] Tinsel, oh my. Is it Christmas yet? Whatever. At another Combini, the staff had fun placing the cans on top of each other - but as you can see in the picture, the pyramid didn’t make it to a proper size so far. This whole object looks like a New Year’s party with fireworks. You won’t miss that, it is a sure one to stumble into on your late night way home…


What a display! Not for Christmas, just for a new beer. Seen at 7-Eleven.

Piled up beer cans. Watch your step on your way home then… Seen at Family Mart.

4. Keep it real for wine connoisseurs!


German wine, including wine barrel, at 7-Eleven…

… and, indeed, the wine needs a glass, too. Seen at Natural Lawson.

A convenience store selling TV dinners to be quickly stuffed into the microwave at home wouldn’t exactly be the spot to look for the most healthy organic foods, agreed on that. However, things have to be real in Japan, authentic. Shoppers are choosy, indeed, and certainly don’t go for fake stuff. So if you might go for some German wine cultivated along the Rhine river, you will find that at every 7-Eleven around the corner for sure: to introduce this special wine it has to be shown where it comes from, which is a wine barrel, of course! Neatly placed on the slim Combini shelf! Well, why not - but it has to go with fake plastic grapes and several wine glasses and some ivy tendrils, as spotted at Natural Lawson. Isn’t that so romantic!

5. Ornamental side effects

Playful ornaments at the iced coffee shelf…

Again at the fridge with lots of iced coffee. But then, something grabs my attention: flowers everywhere, but where on Earth did this little black ornament come from? How cute! A wave ornament made of plastic - still cute. Moreover, it is a traditional Japanese pattern and happens to be the same as the one all over the doggie’ s pillow from above. Very playful indeed!

Post Scriptum


Salt in a picnic box. Seen at Precce.

These were some examples from the Combini shelves, but wait for the real supermarkets! Just to give you an idea how a premium food shopping chain like, for example, Precce deals with consumer care: said Hanami picnic can only be better enjoyed with a perfect set including a good portion of Bad Reichenhaller Alpensalz, salt from the Bavarian Alps. To keep you reminding you this, the salt decor is displayed for you in a nice picnic box – next to a basket with plastic vegetables to promote a Paella all-in-one package including olives to go with it.

The Paella package including the pan goes nicely with the vegetable basket. But with the plastic contents still having their bar code on? Also at Precce.

This is truly consumer culture as its best. You certainly don’t have to like it, you might even despise it for its frankly laid out intentions. But I bet at least the green puppy made you smile, no?

13 Comments

  1. the decor really works!

    Posted by: x-noise on May 23rd, 2007 at 7:17 pm

  2. There’s a bug in your comments - I’m getting someone else’s name and website.

    Posted by: x-noise on May 23rd, 2007 at 7:57 pm

  3. Super super tacky…. I well like the seasonal kit kat displays that they have… I think i have seen every possible flavour of kit kat out here…

    Posted by: SHANTELL MARTIN on May 23rd, 2007 at 8:04 pm

  4. As someone from the Midwest of the U.S. — it reminds me of the displays at grocery stores and particularly liquor stores. Definitely Kitschy. I don’t think that gets done elsewhere in the U.S. though. Not that I’ve seen. Thanks for the pics.

    Posted by: DC1974 on May 23rd, 2007 at 11:08 pm

  5. These beer bottles are lovely in design. i like it

    Posted by: Indian Wedding on May 24th, 2007 at 2:42 am

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    Posted by: Its Beyond Me » TOP 5 Sales Decor In A Japanese Combini on May 24th, 2007 at 3:52 am

  7. So THAT’s what I call being creative at a usually dull place called convenience store. Especially compared to the absolutely dismally supermarkets in Germany - mostly (and in my opinion)! Really nice article, Verena!

    Posted by: Anne Sahler on May 24th, 2007 at 4:33 am

  8. It’s great… hate to be a downer but hope it’s all biodegradable. Looks like there’s a quite a bit of plastic involved - some of those flowers, fruit, vegies and ivy could look cool done in paper.

    Posted by: Angelo on May 24th, 2007 at 12:25 pm

  9. come on angelo, admit it — you LOVE being a downer! ;)

    Posted by: mike on May 30th, 2007 at 12:09 pm

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  13. TOP 5 Sales Decor In A Japanese Combini good post506

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