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December 17, 2003

Thank you! Thanks to all concerned, the FamilyMart Chain Has Reached 10,000 Stores

With the opening of our Kashiwa-Toyoshiki store on December 18, 2003 the total number of FamilyMart stores, including those in Japan and overseas, has reached 10,000.

FamilyMart has steadily expanded its branch network, backed by the support of its customers, since establishing Japan's first convenience store on a trial basis in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo in 1973. Today, our network has grown to reach 10,000 stores, comprising 6,102 stores (including area franchised stores) located in 38 out of the total of 47 prefectures in Japan, and 3,898 stores overseas (1,500 in Taiwan, 2,106 in South Korea, and 292 in Thailand).

Within Japan, the company's aim for the future is to expand the FamilyMart network into a truly national chain by further expanding its area of operations. This will include securing a more significant presence in Shikoku by expanding out from our existing base in Kagawa Prefecture with the opening of our first store in Ehime Prefecture on December 9 this year, and also studying the opening of stores in other areas we have not yet entered.

Overseas, under our Pacific Rim Plan, our strategy is to become the leader among the Japanese convenience store industry in developing stores overseas. This entails enhancing our presence in the areas in which we are already operating, launching in the Shanghai area, and examining the feasibility of a launch in the United States.

FamilyMart intends to step up openings of stores of even higher quality, in order to establish standards of service that will enable a Japan-based convenience store chain to expand on a global basis, with the target of a network of 20,000 stores worldwide.

In addition, with the future advance of communications technologies, the company will pursue new opportunities that make use of this worldwide network. These will include the deployment of new services that use telecommunications resources including Famiport multimedia, the development of common merchandise for different countries, and joint procurement of raw materials for products.

To mark this achievement of a network of 10,000 stores in Japan and other East Asian countries, and to express gratitude for the patronage of its customers, on December 23 FamilyMart will begin implementation of a sales campaign under the slogan "Celebrating Our 10,000th Store."

This promotion will involve a continuous sales campaign and the deployment of merchandise over a period of some five months from December 23, 2003 to May 3, 2004, taking individual East Asian countries as the theme. This is FamilyMart's first attempt to conduct such a long-term campaign, and the company hopes to convey its liveliness, fun, and local atmosphere to its customers, so that they join with FamilyMart in taking pleasure in it.

The fact that we have opened a total of 10,000 stores in East Asia including Japan is not only proof of our popularity with customers but is also thanks to the efforts of each and every one of our stores and their business partners, our employees, and everyone else who has assisted FamilyMart's development.

Having passed this milestone, FamilyMart is committed to taking new steps forward, making its best efforts to improve the profitability of each of the stores that together form the foundation of its business, and striving for the ongoing development of the FamilyMart chain.