Marukai Turned Into Tokyo Central

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Marukai Turned Into Tokyo Central

Yesterday, my husband and I went to Tokyo Central, which is a new Japanese supermarket. You might know that Tokyo Central used to be Marukai supermarket. In 2013, Don Quijote, one of the most famous discount chain stores in Japan, purchased Marukai Corporation USA, and they renovated Marukai and finally rebranded Tokyo Central this month. While we were living in Japan many years ago, we sometimes went to Don Quijote, which carried a wide range of products and were selling them at very reasonable prices. After moving to the U.S. we became Marukai members and paid annual fee for years but ended up canceling our membership about a year ago because we had shopped there only a few times a year. However, Tokyo Central is not a membership supermarket unlike Marukai. :) That's why we decided to stopped by this new supermarket to see how they improved the store on our way home from IKEA.

Tokyo Central

These pop signs are Japanese Don Quijote style. Don Quijote branches in Japan also hang such sings everywhere in stores. :) Tokyo Central seemed carry same items as Marukai, but their food court turned into new deli area. They were selling tempura, Japanese bento, sushi and so on. Frankly, these didn't look so good, so we didn't pick up anything at deli. We purchased fresh tuna at seafood section, and we ate it as sashimi today. It was super fresh and great! Because our home is further from this supermarket, probably we won't go to this supermarket often.