POPLAR Co.,Ltd.
7601・Standard Market・Retail Trade
Business
Poplar Co., Ltd. is a convenience store chain operator founded in Hiroshima in 1976. The company operates two core businesses: the Smart Store Business, which specializes in small-format in-facility stores under the "POPLAR" and "Seikatsu Saika" brands, and the Lawson-POPLAR Business, which operates roadside full-spec convenience stores ("Lawson-POPLAR") based on a mega-franchise agreement with Lawson, Inc. The company owns its own bento and prepared foods manufacturing plants, giving it a strength in integrated manufacturing and sales. Its main customers are in-facility users at hospitals, universities, and factories, as well as roadside convenience store users. The company is listed on the Standard Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Consolidated gross operating revenue for FY2025 (ended February 2025) was ¥12,028 million.
Business Model
In the Smart Store Business, the company adopts a sales royalty system, earning royalty income through FC contracts that enable low-cost operations for in-facility stores. In the Lawson-POPLAR Business, the company promotes the conversion of directly-operated stores into FC stores as a mega-FC, aiming to reduce fixed costs and expand royalty income. At its in-house factories, the company manufactures In-house factory products (bento, prepared foods, frozen prepared foods) for supply to group stores, while also expanding into external sales channels such as drugstores and elderly care facilities, thereby improving factory utilization rates and diversifying revenue sources.
Company Strengths
The company owns its own bento and prepared foods manufacturing plants and supplies proprietary products such as Pop-ben, which is filled with rice cooked in-store. In FY2025 (ending March 2026)... wait, let me not misstate: In the fiscal year ended February 2025, sales of bento and prepared foods to external retail operators expanded sharply to 211.3% year-on-year, and demand for frozen prepared foods manufacturing and sales grew to the point of approaching the production ceiling of existing equipment.
The company has accumulated years of store-opening know-how specializing in small-scale stores within facilities such as hospitals, universities, and factories. Through a sales royalty system, it has built a business model that remains profitable even for small-scale stores, operating 276 stores (including Smart Self) as of the end of the fiscal year ended February 2025. It maintains a unique competitive advantage even as major chains enter in-facility properties.
Existing-store sales year-on-year for the Lawson-POPLAR Business remained continuously positive, at 104.8% in the fiscal year ended February 2025 and 105.4% in the fiscal year ended February 2026. In the fiscal year ended February 2026, 11 new stores were opened, expanding the store count to 131 by the end of the period, and the segment achieved operating income of ¥943 million with a franchise ratio of 86%.
ENVALITH's Perspective
Performance Trend
From FY2022 (ending March 2022) to FY2026 (ending March 2026), revenue declined for five consecutive periods, from ¥13,630 million to ¥11,654 million. In Q1 of FY2027 (ending March 2027), operating revenue was ¥2,939 million (down 1.0% YoY), operating profit was ¥66 million (down 16.0% YoY), and ordinary profit was ¥66 million (down 27.9% YoY). As external factors, persistently elevated raw material and energy costs, rising logistics costs, and increased personnel and recruitment expenses have squeezed profitability. On the other hand, inbound demand and improvement in the employment environment have supported existing-store sales in the Lawson-POPLAR Business (102.3% of the same period of the previous year). The full-year operating profit forecast is ¥261 million (down from ¥302 million in the previous period), and the downward trend in profit levels continues.
Growth Strategy
Progressing on three pillars: expansion and deepening franchising of the Lawson-POPLAR Business, and monetizing external sales of frozen prepared foods.
Continued new store openings in the Kanto, Kansai, Chugoku, and Kyushu areas, with 2 stores opened in Q1 of FY2027 (ending February 2027), expanding to 133 stores at period end (versus 122 stores at the same point in the prior year). Aiming to reduce costs and improve the earnings structure through support for stabilizing franchisee management and promoting the conversion of directly-operated stores to franchises.
Significant growth has been confirmed in bento and prepared food sales to drugstores and others (137.0% year-on-year) and fully-cooked frozen prepared foods for elderly care facilities (168.0% year-on-year), with continued expansion of business partners. Aiming to absorb fixed costs at in-house factories through the expansion of external sales scale.
Developing diverse formats including unmanned stores, ultra-compact stores, and 24-hour operation via cashless self-checkout, aiming to secure stable customer traffic. Opened "Poplar Deli," a new format for weighed prepared foods supervised by registered dietitians, promoting increased average customer spending and new customer acquisition through value-added appeal.
In addition to improving the quality of "Pop-ben," which features freshly cooked rice served in-store, the company launched a new series, "Pop-don" (specialty pork cutlet rice bowl and Sichuan-style mapo tofu rice bowl), which was well received. Also promoting differentiation through the use of local ingredients, such as the "Original Pop-ben" made with Koshihikari rice from Kitahiroshima Town.
Last updated: July 17, 2026