Amid the trend toward nuclear families, there are often fewer people whom parents can easily turn to with questions about raising their children. In light of this, Seven & i Group offers various types of support through its stores.

As of the end of February 2021, Ito-Yokado and Sogo & Seibu provide maternity and childcare consultation offices at 108 stores and Pre-Mama Stations at five stores. Here, consultants certified as public health nurses and midwives provide free consultations on health during pregnancy and childcare. The stores offer restrooms equipped with such facilities as diaper-changing tables, private space for breastfeeding, water heaters for milk formula, and toilets for children.

Ito-Yokado holds various events to provide childcare advice and encourage mutual interaction among parents. The company also actively takes part in events in collaboration with universities, municipalities and several product manufacturers to maintain and promote the health of mothers, offer techniques for relaxation and rejuvenation and provide helpful childcare-related information. The overarching theme of the events is “enjoyment at home through public-private-academic partnerships.” Through these events, we are helping to expand community childcare support networks. (To prevent the spread of COVID-19, no events were held in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2021.)

To support career education at elementary schools, junior and senior high schools, and universities, Seven & i Group cooperates with requests from schools by sending out employees to each school, providing workplace tours, and holding workplace experience programs at its Group stores, where participants have the chance to take part in conducting familiar retail store operations.

Seven-Eleven Japan has a store in Shinagawa Student City, which has been run jointly by Shinagawa-ku and Junior Achievement Japan since 2003. The concept of Shinagawa Student City is to create a virtual town inside an elementary school, with various companies setting up shops and providing experience of working and society. The children working in the 7-Eleven store experience customer service, store shelf organization, and other operations to learn about the systems of society.

Ito-Yokado conducts workplace experience programs at its stores for elementary school, junior and senior high school students. They experience the joy of thinking about and expressing suggestions to customers through product coordination, in-store sampling, and other means and the importance of complying with basic standards to ensure safety and reliability. (To prevent the spread of COVID-19, almost all workplace experience programs were cancelled in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2021.)

York provides opportunities to observe the food processing operations and to practice stocking the shelves in the store with products. Around 7,000 elementary and junior high school students participate each year. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, stores refrained from holding such in-store studies in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2021. Among other things, however, they did respond to interviews from teachers and distribute the CSR booklet "Our Initiatives for Society" and the Environment to students.

Seven & i Group training facility, Ito Training Center, provides store shelf organization and food processing experiences, as well as opportunities to provide service from various customer perspectives, such as helping customers in wheelchairs. Through these experiences, students can feel the value of working and the joy of interacting with customers.

Seven-Eleven Japan holds outreach classes at an elementary school as a part of the Yomiuri Education Network, which seeks to increase interactions between companies and schools. Through the group work, the children come to understand in a fun way the roles that 7-Eleven plays in society. At the same time, they learn about how the products and services of 7-Eleven, which aims to build stores that are convenient and close to people, have changed (CRM strategy* and response to SDGs) in accordance with changes in society (changes in customers’ needs). The class provides a good opportunity for children to think about their society from the everyday perspective of a convenience store.

For more than 15 years, Seven Bank has cosponsored and cooperated in the publication of Bonolon, Warrior of the Forest (approximately 800,000 copies, issued every even month), a picture book that parents can read to their children to facilitate their communication. Among other activities, the bank also distributes picture books free of charge and holds storytelling sessions led by employees to contribute to the sound development of the youth.

Seven & i Group promotes dietary education activities for children to raise people who understand foods through various experiences and can practice sound and healthy dietary habits.

For example, Seven & i Food Systems distributes a booklet titled Bonolon and Food at its chain of Denny’s restaurants. The booklet contains important information about food manners and knowledge, and teaches children about correct eating habits using games and quizzes.

In addition, some Denny’s restaurants operated by Seven & i Food Systems hold dietary education classes for children regularly. These classes are opportunities for children to learn about how to use chopsticks, how to use knives, forks, and spoons, and other basic table manners. They are also opportunities to learn about vegetables in an enjoyable way through explanations using ingredient-themed panels and quizzes. In the fiscal year ended February 28, 2021 stores refrained from holding face-to-face classes to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but preparations are underway toward the launch of a “New Dietary School” that can be held online.