Owner feels greater expectations for convenience stores as lifeline

Katsumi Murakami owns and runs a Lawson convenience stores in Kobe, the capital of Hyogo Prefecture.

KOBE, Japan — The huge earthquake that hit Kobe and other western Japan areas in 1995 has led to expectations that convenience stores will serve as a lifeline in times of disaster.

“The feeling of security that customers have toward convenience stores as infrastructure is incomparably larger than at the time” of the Hanshin-Awaji quake disaster, said Katsumi Murakami, who owns and runs a Lawson convenience stores in Kobe, the capital of Hyogo Prefecture.

After the temblor struck on Jan. 17, 1995, Murakami managed to reach his store from his home in the nearby city of Amagasaki by car.

In some areas, roads and buildings had collapsed due to the quake, which measured up to 7, highest on the Japanese seismic intensity scale.

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Murakami found his shop flooded with water from burst pipes. Store items were scattered across the floor.

Although he was unable to open the store, he gave away food and other items to people who came to his place.

“It was only natural for me to hand them out” as people were feeling anxious about whether they could find water and food, Murakami said.

After spending busy days arranging restoration work for the shop, getting rid of rubble around it and visiting banks, Murakami reopened the outlet at the end of April, three months after the quake.

He said he felt relieved, thinking, “I can finally do business.”

“Convenience stores now play a big role in the community, such as crime prevention,” in addition to what they do in disasters, Murakami said. He added that he teaches his employees how to evacuate customers, telling them to instruct customers to flee to the mountains if a quake strikes.

“We will definitely accommodate customers when a quake occurs,” he emphasized.