Seven & i Holdings announced on February 9th that it will take over the operation of Ito-Yokado Hirosaki Store (in front of Hirosaki City Station) to the OIC Group.

The Ito-Yokado Hirosaki store, which opened in 1976, has been popular with Hirosaki residents for many years as a commercial facility directly connected to the bus terminal. In 2020, the building was renovated to accommodate major tenants such as the household goods stores ``LOFT'' and ``MUJI'' on the first floor.

According to Seven & i Holdings, with the aim of ``accelerating focus on the Tokyo metropolitan area,'' Ito-Yokado will withdraw from the Hokkaido, Tohoku, and Shinetsu areas, and the OIC Group will operate the ``Ito-Yokado Hirosaki store'' around October. He will inherit the business.

The OIC Group operates under the concepts of ``Food Theme Park'' and ``Bringing Japanese Food to the World,'' and engages in supermarket and restaurant management, processed product manufacturing, and wholesale business. The group's affiliated companies include Superopia and Akidai.

The Ito-Yokado Hirosaki store's self-employed sections include an underground food store, Poppo, and clothing stores on the second to fourth floors. The future operations of existing tenants will depend on the contract with the new company.