National Retailer Plans to Slash Funeral Prices by 40%

Aeon Co. will begin offering funeral services next month in Japan and expects 20,000 clients in the first year, Nikkei reported, without saying where it obtained the information. The retailer will partner with 400 funeral companies and provide services through them, Nikkei said.

The company aims to reduce funeral costs by about 40 percent by making bulk purchases of funeral-related items, the paper said.

Aeon, Japan?s second-largest retailer, operates Ministop convenience stores and Talbots women?s clothing stores. The company forecasts 100,000 funeral customers over three years, Nikkei said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kiyori Ueno in Tokyo at kueno2@bloomberg.net

Source: Bloomberg.net

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