NIKKEI
 
Seven-Eleven Japan plans to open 1,700 stores next fiscal year, putting itself on course to become the first convenience store operator with 20,000 locations in the country by fiscal 2017.
 
The company has been adding more than 1,000 stores a year for several years. It plans to add 1,600 this fiscal year for a total of more than 17,500. Fiscal 2015 will mark the fifth straight year with a record number of openings.
 
Seven-Eleven Japan is the only major convenience store operator that has managed to increase same-store sales since the April 1 consumption tax hike. It boasts a market share of around 40% by sales.
 
The company will spend 10% more on new stores next fiscal year, investing a record 100 billion yen ($853 million). More than half of the 1,700 planned stores will be in the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka metropolitan areas. Locations will also open in Aomori and Kochi prefectures, where the company now lacks a presence.
 
Worsening earnings have forced rivals FamilyMart and Circle K Sunkus to cut back on planned store openings.