On June 26th, "Satocho" (4 Kikyono, Hirosaki City), who runs the supermarket "Satocho" in Aomori Prefecture, mainly in the Tsugaru area, applied to the Hirosaki Branch of the Aomori District Court for the application of the Civil Rehabilitation Law. It was revealed. Liabilities amounted to 6,347,850,000 yen.

The company was founded in 1897 (Meiji 30) as "Sato Shoten" and opened the first "Satocho" store in 1978 (Showa 53). Currently, it has 26 stores and 16 tenant stores in Aomori Prefecture, with 781 employees. Last month, he launched a new business "Eco Satocho" to tackle food loss.

President Minoru Sato, who responded to the press conference, said, "We sincerely apologize for causing great concern and inconvenience to our customers, employees, business partners, and local residents." He gave four reasons for applying for the application of

The first is an increase in affiliated company expenses. It is said that the food processing company "Aomori Shokken" (Kuroishi City), which started full-scale operation in 2021, did not proceed as originally planned. The second is the intensifying competition for market share with competitors. The third is the rise in purchase prices and the increase in fixed costs such as utility costs. Fourth, the company was unable to obtain new loans from the bank due to the violation of the Employment Security Law by the former president, who was arrested last year and had an affair with anti-social forces. Aomori Shokken has a debt of 620 million yen and has applied for the application of the Civil Rehabilitation Law.

After the 27th, "Satocho" will continue to operate as usual at all stores. Attorney Takuo Saito said, "We will decide on a sponsor by the end of August and then decide on future management policies."