Famima!! was a chain of small upscale

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 owned by

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 of

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 ...

. Founded on September 17, 2004, the stores brought the Japanese model of premium convenience stores targeting the middle- and upper-level income group of 21 – 41 years of age to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Famima stores feature upscale design and premium foods, packaging deli-style "lunch boxes" (

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

es, panini,

sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...

), international and American goods popular in the United States. FamilyMart opened and closed a number of Famima stores in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

between 2005 and 2013. The company originally had plans for 30 test stores with 220 additional stores by 2009. However, the company's contraction came as quickly as its expansion and Famima closed many of the original test sites. There were nine active locations as of July 2010, according to the company's website. In 2015, FamilyMart liquidated Famima Corp. USA and announced that it would be withdrawing from the United States market, permanently closing all remaining Famima stores in Southern California by the end of October 2015, in order to concentrate its resources on its network of stores in Asia.ファミマ、米国から撤退　８店舗を閉鎖 ("Famima, closing eight stores, withdrawing from the United States")
Nikkei.com. 2015-08-27.

Locations

All locations were formerly located in the

Greater Los Angeles area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

. * Downtown

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

(all closed - date unknown) **

Two California Plaza 2Cal, formerly known as Two California Plaza, is a skyscraper in the Bunker Hill District of downtown Los Angeles, California. The tower is part of the California Plaza project, consisting of two unique skyscrapers, One California Plaza and Two ...

City National Plaza City National Plaza is a twin tower skyscraper complex on South Flower Street in western Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. It was originally named ARCO Plaza upon opening in 1972. History Richfield Tower The present complex is o ...

** 700 Wilshire ** Roosevelt (7th Street at Flower Street) ** Pacific Center (6th Street at Olive Street, near Pershing Square) ** Broadway Arcade Building **622 Flower Street **

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

Third Street Promenade The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian mall esplanade, shopping, dining and entertainment complex in the downtown area of Santa Monica, California which originally opened as the Santa Monica Mall on November 8, 1965. It is considered a premier ...

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

(closed as of September 22, 2015) * Hollywood Plaza on Hollywood Blvd. (near

Hollywood and Highland Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

) (closed as of March 2011) * Culver Center in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

(

Venice Boulevard Venice Boulevard is a major east–west thoroughfare in Los Angeles, running from the ocean in the Venice, Los Angeles, Venice district, past the I-10 (CA), I-10 intersection, into downtown Los Angeles. It was originally known as West 16th Street ...

at Overland Ave) (closed as of October 2011) *

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

- Santa Anita Ave and Live Oak Ave (closed as of October 2009) * Fountain Valley - Bushard St. and Warner Ave (closed as of December 6, 2009) *

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

(closed - date unknown) * 8th & Figueroa (closed - date unknown) * Lakewood - Downey and South Street (closed - date unknown) *

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

** 2nd Street in Belmont Shore (closed as of March 1, 2008) ** Los Coyotes Diagonal (closed as of March 1, 2008) *

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

** Playhouse District - Colorado Boulevard (closed as of November 30, 2009) **

Old Pasadena Old Pasadena, often referred to as Old Town Pasadena or just Old Town, is the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California, United States, and had a latter-day revitalization after a period of decay. Old Pasadena began as the ce ...

- Raymond Avenue and Union Street (closed as of January 2010) * Torrance (closed as of May 30, 2008) *

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

(closed as of February 1, 2009) * Santa Anita Mall in

(closed as of May 2013) * Westwood (closed - date unknown)

References

External links

* *Andrea Gardner
More than convenient, it's Famima!!
''

Marketplace (radio program) ''Marketplace'' is an American radio program that focuses on business, the economy, and events that influence them. The program was first broadcast in 1989. Hosted by Kai Ryssdal since 2005, the show is produced and distributed by American Publi ...

'', May 29, 2006 *Jonathan Gold, , ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'', September 20, 2006 Companies based in Torrance, California Convenience stores of the United States American companies established in 2004 Retail companies established in 2004 Retail companies disestablished in 2015 American subsidiaries of foreign companies 2004 establishments in California 2015 disestablishments in California Itochu {{US-retail-company-stub