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Threats, spies and videotape: A grudge match has erupted in a 7-Eleven parking lot between one of Japan’s most powerful companies and, arguably, one of its most stubborn men. https://nyti.ms/3t7GKC4
Mitoshi Matsumoto ran his 7-Eleven in Osaka every day for years, but wanted to take a day off. The chain revoked his contract in 2019 after he dared to shorten his operating hours. https://nyti.ms/33563Kw
Matsumoto had been considered a model 7-Eleven representative before his seemingly small act of rebellion. He received praise for, among other things, having the highest sales of steamed pork buns in his region of Japan. https://nyti.ms/3ta6JJc
The company has said it moved against Matsumoto because he was a bad franchisee. 7-Eleven kept a dossier of complaints, and hired a team of private investigators to collect video that, the company says, shows Matsumoto head-butting a customer. https://nyti.ms/3t7GKC4
Since the company closed Matsumoto’s 7-Eleven, it has built a second one in the original’s parking lot — and now says it plans to charge Matsumoto for the cost of the second shop next to his. https://nyti.ms/3t7GKC4
The dispute could determine not just who sells rice balls and cigarettes from a patch of asphalt in Osaka. It could have implications for 7-Eleven’s authority over a convenience store network that the government considers vital to national infrastructure. https://nyti.ms/3t7GKC4
Read more about 7-Eleven’s fight with perhaps its most famous franchisee, by @BenjaminDooley and @hudidi1. https://nyti.ms/3t7GKC4
