Sales of canned oxygen to create fresh market for
Seven-Eleven Japan
Sunday, May 14, 2006 (Mainichi)
Japanese convenience store
operator Seven-Eleven Japan has breathed fresh air into
its product lineup by announcing it will add cans of
oxygen to its shelves.
The firm
said it would make an entry into the rapidly expanding
oxygen market and begin selling cans of oxygen on May 24.
Oxygen has emerged as a popular new
product and sparked the creation of city "oxygen bars"
that provide oxygen for customers to breathe in. The
convenience store operator will sell small portable cans.
It is the first retailer among Japanese convenience stores
and supermarkets to enter the oxygen market.
A can of oxygen that Seven-Eleven
Japan plans to sell is held up.
The idea behind the product is to allow
buyers to replenish their oxygen levels anytime they feel a
lack of it due to stress, fatigue, or other factors.
Seven-Eleven Japan developed the product together with Tokyo
based Hakugen, a manufacturer of miscellaneous
lifestyle-related goods.
A drop in the amount of oxygen in the body can
make people start to yawn and sigh. Normal air contains only
about 21 percent oxygen, but the oxygen concentration in the
cans is 95 percent, and breathing it in can reportedly bring
on a feeling of invigoration.
Each can
contains enough oxygen for 35 two-second inhalations, meaning
each can lasts for roughly a week if it is used five or six
times a day. At first the canned oxygen will be sold in Tokyo,
Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures, then at all 11,000 of
Seven-Eleven Japan's
