Seicomart Hekisui (Hekisui, Hokuryu Town) protects the local community. We are grateful for their desire to contribute to the community!

August 27, 2021
Feature Articles, Hokuryu Land Improvement District
953 views

Friday, August 27, 2021

Seico Mart, a convenience store located in the Hekisui district of Hokuryu Town, is a valuable store for the local people, protecting their livelihoods.

table of contents

1 Seicomart Hekisui (Hokuryu Town Hekisui)
2 The story of Ryoji Kikura (82 years old)
3 The story of Tadashi Hoshiba (76 years old)
4 Ryoji Kikura's story: The great spirit that resides in the Hoshiba family of Hokuryu Town
5 Seicomart Hekisui
6 Related articles and sites
7 Seicomart Hekisui

Seicomart Hekisui (Hokuryu Town Hekisui)

Hekisui Seicomart protects the local community

We spoke to Ryoji Kikura (former representative director and chairman of JA Kitasorachi) and Tadashi Hoshiba, representative of Seicomart Hekisui, about the time when Seicomart was launched 25 years ago.

The story of Ryoji Kikura (82 years old)

Ryoji Kikura (former president of Kitasorachi Agricultural Cooperative) — Ryoji Kikura (former representative director and chairman of JA Kitasorachi)

Three stores run by Hokuryu Town Agricultural Cooperative

Shortly after the war, when Hokuryu Town Agricultural Cooperative was founded, it operated three stores in the Wa, Hekisui, and Mibauushi districts of Hokuryu Town. The stores and blacksmith shop were essential facilities for protecting the livelihoods of agricultural cooperative members.

However, some stores were in financial difficulty. However, they were important to the lives of the local community and could not be eliminated. A management rationalization plan was formulated and implemented.

The stores in the Wa area will remain open, while the stores in the Mibowushi area will be transferred.

As the merger of eight agricultural cooperatives in Kita Sorachi was being discussed, one of the conditions for the merger was agreed upon: one store per cooperative (the JA Kita Sorachi merger took place in 2000). Hokuryu Town Agricultural Cooperative decided to keep one store in the Wa area.

Regarding the Miwa beef area, I was the head of the Hokuryu Town Agricultural Cooperative at the time, and I consulted with the acting head, Masakazu Yoshio. Thanks to his great efforts, we were able to transfer management to Hosokawa Shoten, which is run by the residents of the Miwa beef area.

The Hekisui district store will merge with Seicomart.

As for the store in Hekisui district, negotiations to have a convenience store take over the business were difficult as the terms were not right. Convenience stores were not willing to provide sales space for fresh produce or to sell directly to customers.

In this situation, Seico Mart, which aims to open stores throughout the prefecture, was the only company to accept the contract. They accepted the location of the fresh produce store that Hokuryu Town Agricultural Cooperative had been handling, and the direct sales. This was a decision made by Seico Mart President Nagamitsu Nishio. This was the first merger in Hokkaido between an agricultural cooperative and a convenience store.

The agricultural cooperative store in the Hekisui district began operations as a convenience store called "Secomart Hekisui" in 1997 (Heisei 9).

Mr. Kikura talking about agricultural cooperative stores

The story of Tadashi Hoshiba (76 years old)

Tadashi Hoshiba (President and CEO of Seicomart)

He invested his retirement money and started managing Seicomart Hekisui!

When I was working at Hokuryu Town Agricultural Cooperative, I was transferred to the store in the Hekisui area and was involved in its management.

Later, as negotiations for the outsourcing to Seicomart progressed, five members of the Hokuryu Town Agricultural Cooperative's executives and staff formed a corporation and started managing Seicomart Hekisui. The executives of the agricultural cooperative were the union president, Kikura, and acting president, Yoshio, and the staff members were Ishikawa, Hoshiba, and store manager, Fujii.

However, after the merger of the agricultural cooperatives, it became clear that JA Kitasorachi and Seicomart had different fiscal year endings, and that under accounting law the agricultural cooperatives could not operate Seicomart Hekisui stores. This is because an organization cannot have two fiscal years.

So, when I was 54, I retired from JA Kitasorachi, used my retirement benefits to buy the agricultural cooperative's shares for 10 million yen, and became its representative director. I then started managing Seico Mart independently from the agricultural cooperative.

Across the street was a 7-Eleven, which has one of the top five sales in Hokkaido, and I couldn't see the future. However, I had worked hard with many people and had come to terms with it, so I couldn't just run away (laughs). I've been working hard up until now.

I was able to take over the store thanks to the support of my wife and the people of the local community.

It was my mother (Ikuko HoshibaAt first, I had a hard time paying all the bills, but I'm grateful that I was able to get through it thanks to my mother's support.

We have been able to continue this way thanks to the local agricultural cooperatives and organizations that use our products for banquets, memorial services, weddings, funerals, and other ceremonial occasions. We are truly grateful for their support. In the past, weddings, funerals, and other ceremonial occasions were also held, and boxes were used for catering and return gifts.

The whole town supported each other and cooperated to make the store stand out, so it was a thriving business. I am truly grateful that the local people use the store so often.

Thank you to store manager Junpei Mihara and Daisuke Fujita for your hard work!

The current store manager, Junpei Mihara, and Daisuke Fujita, who have been with the store since it opened, work very hard and diligently without a single complaint or grumble.

The two of them deliver to elderly people without sparing any effort, no matter how small the order from the customer, regardless of the amount or quantity. They have truly earned the trust of many local residents and are an important presence that everyone enjoys.

Thank you to Junpei Mihara and Daisuke Fujita for your hard work!

The secret to good health is to move your body at work

I owe it all to this job that I am still in good health. I am on the move as much as I can from early in the morning, so I think it is very good for my body.

I wake up around 3am, arrive at work at 4am and start getting ready. Products are delivered to the store at 5am. I get home around 5:30pm and go to bed at 7pm. I've been living this lifestyle every day for over 20 years.

In winter, it's a tough job because we have to complete snow removal before Seico Mart's delivery trucks arrive.

Gratitude to the local people

It is thanks to the local community that the store can continue like this. We are so grateful!

Thank you to the local people who support us!!!

Ryoji Kikura's story: The great spirit that resides in the Hoshiba family of Hokuryu Town

Mr. Hoshiba's parents were very respectable people. His father always had a smile on his face and was never seen angry, and his mother was a very kind and refined person. His parents ran a tofu shop and served as a contract stationmaster, and they were a large family of nine siblings.

Eldest sonHajime Hoshibawas a former deputy mayor of Hokuryu Town Hall. Mr. Hoshiba Kuni worked for the Land Improvement District and passed away early.Isao HoshibaHe has contributed extensively to various social welfare-related activities, including serving as the representative of the national organization for families of people with early-onset dementia, Saisei no Kai (since 2006), and as the representative of Hokuryu Town's early-onset dementia family association, Sorachi Himawari.

The entire family comes from a lineage of people who have contributed greatly to society and are dedicated to Hokuryu Town.

I believe that the reason why Seicomart Hekisui, which protects the lives of the Hekisui area, can continue to operate today is because Tadashi Hoshiba has a strong desire in his heart to protect the area, and he dedicated his retirement benefits to his second life. I believe that the desire to contribute to the community is in the blood of the Hoshiba family.