New Family Mart

Most students at Sacred Heart will probably tell you that Family Mart is their go-to place. Either they woke up at 8:00 am and didn’t have enough time to eat breakfast at home, or they want a snack for their train ride home. Just a few days ago, Family Mart reopened their new store, something all students were hyped for.

Maybe it was all this excitement that made myself and others expect too much from the interior designers of Family Mart.

My friend had told me before I walked in that Family Mart had become terribly white. But what I had recalled from the past Family Mart was that it was already really white. How could one place get any whiter?

But once I looked through the long horizontal windows, I realised that it really was possible for one place to get whiter. It felt as though Family Mart had turned into the family hospital. The lights were overwhelmingly bright, and the shelves holding instant cup ramen and chips looked like shelves which carry medicine in pharmacies. The sitting counter had turned into what looked like a place you would eat when visiting your sick family member and the ice cream freezer looked out of place. Now that I’d seen this new version of Family Mart, I’d realized what an at-home place the previous one was.   

However, amongst all of this hospital-ness, the bathroom had gotten a total makeover. The toilet is now what you call a typical Japanese “super toilet”. Toilet no Kamisama (the toilet god) must be very happy!

Although I’m pretty disappointed with the “makeover,” I still can’t resist buying a snack there after school and in the end, it’s the food that counts, right?