Why not a convenience store for women? That was the idea behind SCOCO, which opened in May 2001 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. The staff, 100% women, developed the original concept and saw it through the planning stages.

The store's restroom is called a "powder room." It has a big mirror for a customer to touch up her makeup. Part of the floor is raised, to create a clean space for her to kick off her shoes and change her stockings and clothes. Drinking glasses are available as an aid to brushing teeth, and there are absorbent papers to remove oil from the skin. SCOCO certainly is a convenience store for women.

The take-out meals sold here are inexpensive, and they come in small packages. You might think they are for someone on a diet, but no-"They are for discerning women who want a bit of this and a bit of that for a nice meal," says Nakamura Misako, who works in the product department at COCO Store Co., Ltd. Customers choose the size that suits them, perhaps a small serving of pork on rice, bread, salad and a dessert. So a take-out meal costs the same as at an ordinary convenience store, but with all this variety, it's a small feast.

The cosmetics on the shelves show a refined awareness of current trends and seasonal influences. In the winter there's an array of lipsticks to prevent chapped lips, in the summer some hairclips to pin the hair up. You'll also see a number of fashionable net tights. Nakamura tells me, "After work, some customers drop in, change their clothes, then go out to enjoy themselves. Many of our products are the types of things I always wanted a convenience store to have, so I'm sure we are offering women what they want."

The store even has a nook called the Eat In Café There are 14 chairs here, inviting women to sit down and chat.