Will the "100-Yen" Store go the way of the "Five and Dime"?

Tough Times Ahead for 100-Yen Stores

Excerpt:

Japanese investors and exporters may be cheering the dollar's return to the ¥100 mark, but for the thousands of "100 Yen" discount stores around the country, it signals tough times ahead.

The 100-yen shops have become representative of a deflationary Japan, thriving by astonishing customers with the purchasing power of the ¥100 coin. They offer everything from cellphone chargers to fake eyelashes for the same low price. Their business model has centered on a strong yen pushing down prices of the imported goods that fill their shelves.

... Since the price the shops can charge is fixed, by definition, creative store managers may be forced to give consumers a little less bang for their money. What used to buy 10 balloons might soon buy eight, a pack of five hair curlers might be replaced by packs of three, and kitchen sponges might be cut into smaller pieces, said 100-yen store managers in Tokyo. They say they are also looking to raise the percentage of Japan-made goods on the shelves.

Comment: Note to business owner - don't put the price in the business name. Eg. Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Inc, and Family Dollar Stores Inc.