Japanese chain making inroads in Southern California

Japanese chain making inroads in Southern California Famima!!, the U.S. division of Japanese convenience store giant FamilyMart, has opened its 12th Los Angeles-area outlet, quickly making inroads into the competitive Southern California convenience store market.
   The Japanese-owned chain, formed in 2004, offers the combination of a high-end convenience store, packaged deli lunch counter, and high-end grocer. The firm opened its first U.S. store in July 2005 as part of an aggressive rollout plan to build more than 250 locations by 2009. All 12 of the firm's current stores are in Southern California.
   Parent-firm FamilyMart operates more 12,000 stores worldwide, with 6,000 locations in Japan, and the remaining spread throughout Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Shanghai, China.
   Famima!! joins British grocery giant Tesco as one of the newest players in the new upscale and 'boutique' convenience store market in the western United States.
   Tesco said last year they plan to spend $400 million annually over the next five years to launch a chain of Tesco-owned stores in the United States. The company is building an 820,400-square-foot distribution center in Riverside.