Overview
- The regulator said supplier staff were dispatched without pay for shelving and restocking between September 2022 and June 2025.
- About 400 suppliers sent more than 10,000 people to over 100 locations during openings and remodels as the chain grew to 121 stores by June 2025.
- Lopia plans to repay roughly ¥433 million to cover personnel, travel, and lodging costs that suppliers had borne.
- An outside lawyer will monitor Lopia’s compliance for five years and file regular reports to the Fair Trade Commission.
- Officials cited suspected abuse of a superior bargaining position yet declined to issue a violation finding or an exclusion order.