was a chain of company-operated and franchised

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...

s in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The company is a division of UNY Co., Ltd., which licensed the

Circle K Circle K Stores, Inc. is a Canadian chain of convenience stores headquartered in Laval, Quebec, Canada. It is owned by the multinational company Couche-Tard. Founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1 ...

name from

Alimentation Couche-Tard Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., or simply Couche-Tard, is a Canadian multinational operator of convenience stores. The company has 15,000 stores across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuani ...

, a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

convenience store company that owns the Circle K brand. The typical Japanese convenience store goods such as

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

soft drinks A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a s ...

contraceptives Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

onigiri , also known as , , or rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes and often wrapped in ''nori''. Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume (''umeboshi''), salted salmon, katsuobu ...

, and

bento A is the Japanese cuisine, Japanese iteration of a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch. Outside Japan, it is common in other East and Southeast Asian culinary styles, especially within Chinese cuisine, Chinese, Korean c ...

are available. As of September 1, 2016, all Circle K Sunkus stores have been rebranded as

FamilyMart is a Japanese convenience store franchise chain. It is Japan's second largest convenience store chain, behind 7-Eleven. There are now 24,574 stores worldwide in Japan, Taiwan, China, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its ...

stores as a result of the FamilyMart Co. and Uny Group Holdings Co. merger.

History

The first Circle K store in Japan opened on March 15, 1980 in Tenpaku-ku,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

. The first Sunkus store opened in Aoba-ku,

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

on July 23, 1980. The Sunkus chain expanded to Tokyo in 1981, Hokkaido in 1982, Osaka in 1989 and Nagoya in 1992. Sunkus and Circle K Japan formed an equity and business alliance in October 1998. The franchiser, Sunkus & Associates Inc. officially merged with Circle K Japan Co., Ltd. as of the September 1, 2004 fiscal year and was known officially as Circle K Sunkus Co., Ltd (株式会社サークルKサンクス). The two brands remained separate — convenience stores owned by the company have either a Sunkus sign or a Circle K sign.

Facts about Sunkus

The word "Sunkus" is a combination of the words "Sun" and the word "Thanks",Circle K Sunkus: Company Outline
. The logo is a combination of the words "Sun", "Kids", and "Us".

References

External links

* * Alimentation Couche-Tard 1980 establishments in Japan 2016 disestablishments in Japan Retail companies established in 1980 Retail companies established in 2004 Retail companies disestablished in 2016 2004 mergers and acquisitions 2016 mergers and acquisitions Retail companies based in Tokyo Convenience stores of Japan {{japan-company-stub