Lawson

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Lawson (store)

Lawson, Inc. (株式会社ローソン Kabushiki Kaisha Rōson, TYO: 2651) is a convenience store franchise chain in Japan. The store originated in Cuyahoga Falls, near Cleveland and Akron, in the U.S. state of Ohio, but today exists as a Japanese company and is the second largest convenience store chain in the country behind 7-Eleven.

The Japanese company has its headquarters in East Tower of Gate City Ohsaki in Ōsaki, Shinagawa, Tokyo.

Origins in Ohio

In 1939, a dairy owner named James "J.J." Lawson started a store at his Broad Boulevard dairy plant in Cuyahoga Falls, near Akron, Ohio, to sell his milk. The Lawson's Milk Company grew to a chain of stores, primarily in Ohio. Lawson was bought out by Consolidated Foods in 1959. Lawson's neighborhood convenience stores were common in Ohio from the 1960s through the mid-1980s. They were probably best known for their orange juice, milk, deli counter 'chipped' style ham and sour cream potato chip dips.

Consolidated was renamed Sara Lee in 1985. At about the same time, Lawson's stores in the United States were sold to Dairy Mart, a smaller chain of convenience stores located in Enfield, Connecticut. Dairy Mart moved its headquarters to Cuyahoga Falls, renamed the Lawson's stores, and operated the chain as Dairy Mart for the next 17 years. Under Dairy Mart, the chain was not without controversy. Dairy Mart was sued by the American Family Association, after a Dairy Mart manager in Ohio complained that the company's policy of selling pornography subjected her to sexual and religious harassment. The court case, Stanley v. Lawson Co., gained fame as a test of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Lawson (name)

Lawson is often a surname that may sometimes also be a given name.

People surnamed Lawson