Hi, this is Kei. Lately, I find myself heading to an Apita store almost every weekend. I tag along with my mother for her change of scenery, and somewhere along the way, these weekend trips quietly became part of my routine. So today, I want to write about Apita — the regional shopping chain that has become a fixture of my weekends.
Weekends at an Apita, somewhere in Aichi
The routine looks something like this. We arrive around noon, grab a light lunch at the food court, then split up for some free time before doing the grocery shopping on the way out. For Mom, it’s a change of pace. For me, it’s the weekend ride I drive her to.
Which Apita we go to changes every time. We don’t stick to one store — it depends on her mood that day. There are plenty of Apita stores scattered around Aichi, all within driving distance, so we have options. Just being somewhere a little different is enough to make it feel like a small day trip.
The food court, where it always starts with Sugakiya
At the food court, we almost always pick Sugakiya or Ringer Hut. Sugakiya is a Nagoya-born ramen chain, and seeing it in a food court feels distinctly Aichi to me. Lining it up against Ringer Hut’s Nagasaki-style champon is exactly the kind of casual choice you make at a Japanese suburban shopping center.
This isn’t about a serious meal. It’s a light, familiar bite — more like a cue that signals the shift into our separate free time. Neither of us deliberates much; we just pick whichever feels right that day.
Free time, separate paths
After eating, we go our own ways. Mom heads to the women’s clothing floor. I do my usual loop: appliances, PCs, then a wander through Nitori and the home center section.
Looking at it, my route is unmistakably an engineer’s route. I check whether any new PC peripherals have appeared, how the appliance demo units have changed, and over at the home center I’ll peek at the DIY corner or the wiring aisle. Most days I don’t buy anything — but just walking around quiets my head.
Meanwhile, Mom is taking her time on the women’s floor. We’re in the same building, but in different places, spending different time. This kind of distance feels just right between a grown child and a parent.
Why we still choose Apita in an age of Don Quijote
UNY, the parent company of Apita, took investment from Don Quijote Holdings (now PPIH) in 2017, and became a fully owned subsidiary in January 2019. Since then, Apita and Piago stores have steadily been converted into “MEGA Don Quijote UNY” hybrids. Plans have been announced to convert around 100 of the 180 stores into Don Quijote-branded or co-branded formats, and the landscape of suburban shopping has shifted little by little.
Mom puts the same trend into different words: “Don Quijote feels too cluttered.” She wants to browse the women’s clothing floor at her own pace, and Don Quijote’s compressed displays and bursts of overhead pop signs aren’t her thing. Apita’s calmer aisles and broader women’s clothing section suit her better. That’s the reason we go out of our way to pick an Apita, in a season when Apita is becoming harder to find.
A different Apita every time, but the same landscape
We pick a different store every weekend, yet what we do hardly changes. Every Apita has a Sugakiya in the food court, a women’s clothing floor, an appliance section, and a home center or Nitori inside. The chain’s consistency is exactly what makes it feel right wherever we go.
After moving back to Aichi, I’ve come to see this ubiquity as a quietly important piece of local infrastructure. Apita isn’t as overwhelming as an Aeon Mall, nor as close as a corner supermarket. It’s a mid-sized shopping center, present in just about every town — big enough for Mom’s change of pace, mellow enough for my walk.
Closing thoughts
Weekend Apita has, without my noticing, become the time I spend with my mother. We don’t make grand plans. We grab a light lunch at the food court, take our separate free time, and pick up groceries on the way home. That alone has settled in as the shape of my weekends in Aichi.
Even as Don Quijote-style transformations spread, I find myself quietly glad that Apita still exists in its own form. We keep picking a different Apita each weekend, almost as if we’re going to confirm that the familiar landscape is still there.
— Kei