, commonly written AEON Co., Ltd., is a Japanese multinational holding company of

ÆON Group is a group of retail and financial services companies based in Chiba, Japan, which is centered on ÆON Co., Ltd. It has sister companies in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. The group also trades ...

. It has its headquarters in

Mihama-ku is one of the six wards of the city of Chiba in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As of April 2012, the ward had an estimated population of 149,314 and a population density of 7,060 persons per km². The total area was 21.16 km². Geography ...

, Chiba,

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to t ...

.Aeon 2011 Group Profile
." Æon. Retrieved on September 15, 2011. "Head Office: 1-5-1 Nakase, Mihama-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba 261-8515, Japan" It operates all the AEON Retail Stores (formerly known as

JUSCO is the acronym for Japan United Stores Company, a chain of "general merchandise stores" (or hypermarket) and the largest of its type in Japan. The various JUSCO companies are subsidiaries of the ÆON supermarket chain. The JUSCO name was adopte ...

supermarkets) directly in Japan. Meanwhile, AEON CO. (M) BHD operates all the AEON Retail Stores directly in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. ÆON is the largest retailer in Asia. ÆON is a retail network comprising around 300 consolidated subsidiaries and 26 equity-method affiliated companies. These range from

convenience stores 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 ticke ...

Ministop (), a member of AEON, operates the Ministop convenience store franchise chain in Japan. Unlike most other convenience stores in Japan, Ministop stores feature a kitchen that prepares sandwiches, snacks and take out bento boxes on demand, and ha ...

" and

supermarkets A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more l ...

shopping malls A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

and

specialty stores A specialty store is a shop/store that carries a deep assortment of brands, styles, or models within a relatively narrow category of goods. Furniture stores, florists, sporting goods stores, and bookstores are all specialty stores. Stores such as A ...

, including having owned the American chain Talbots. ÆON is Japan's single-largest shopping mall developer and operator.

Naming

The name ÆON is a transliteration from the

koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

word (''ho aion''), from the archaic (''aiwon''). The name and symbolism used in the branding implies the eternal nature of the company.

History

The company was legally incorporated in September 1926 as Okadaya (founded in 1758). In 1970, Okadaya merged with Futagi and Shiro to form JUSCO Co., Ltd. The employees voted to name the company "Japan United Stores Company". On August 21, 2001, the company became AEON Co., Ltd. On August 21, 2008, the corporate structure changed. AEON Co., Ltd. became a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

while AEON Retail Co., Ltd. took over the retail operations formerly held by AEON Co., Ltd. As of March 1, 2011, all JUSCO and Saty stores under the AEON umbrella in Japan officially changed their names to AEON while all the JUSCO stores and shopping centres in

were fully re-branded into AEON since March 2012. However, JUSCO stores still operate in the Greater China region and some others. In November 2012, AEON acquired the operation of Carrefour Malaysia with an enterprise value of €250 million. All of the current Carrefour hypermarkets and supermarkets in Malaysia were then fully re-branded into AEON BiG. The acquisition of Carrefour Malaysia made AEON as the second largest retailer in Malaysia, which combined the sales from AEON Retail stores (formerly known as

) and the former Carrefour outlets. Post-acquisition, AEON's

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, milita ...

business vice president said the retail giant targeted to open 100 outlets in various formats in the country by year 2020. AEON Stores (Hong Kong) Co., Limited was established in Hong Kong in November 1987 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in February 1994. AEON aims to develop a chain operation in Hong Kong and offer value-for-money merchandise to Hong Kong customers.

References

*
Æon Financial Results for FY 2010 (ended on February 28, 2012)
'

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aeon 1758 establishments in Japan 1970s initial public offerings Companies based in Chiba Prefecture Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Holding companies of Japan Holding companies established in 1758 Japanese brands Multinational companies headquartered in Japan Supermarkets of Japan Retail companies established in 1758 Retail companies of Japan

Naming

History

See also

References

External links