ÆON Co., Ltd.(イオン株式会社,Ion Kabushiki-gaisha), commonly writtenAEON Co., Ltd., is the holding company of ÆON Group. It has its headquarters in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture.^[1]

It operates all the AEON Retail Stores (formerly known as JUSCO supermarkets) directly in Japan. Meanwhile, AEON CO. (M) BHD operates all the AEON Retail Stores directly inMalaysia.

ÆON is the largest retailer in Asia.^[2]ÆON is a retail network comprising around 300 consolidated subsidiaries and 26 equity-method affiliated companies ranging from convenience stores “Ministop” and supermarkets to shopping malls and specialty stores, including Talbots. ÆON is Japan’s single-largest shopping mall developer and operator.

The name ÆON is a transliteration from thekoine Greekword ὁ αἰών (ho aion), from the archaic αἰϝών (aiwon). The name and symbolism used in the branding implies the eternal nature of the company.^[3]

The company was established in September 1926. In 1970, three companies, Futagi, Okadaya, and Shiro, formed JUSCO Co., Ltd. The employees voted to name the company “Japan United Stores Company”. On August 21, 2001, the company became ÆON Co., Ltd. On August 21, 2008 the corporate structure changed. ÆON Co., Ltd. became a holding company while ÆON Retail Co., Ltd. took over the retail operations formerly held by ÆON Co., Ltd.^[1]

As of March 1, 2011, all JUSCO and Saty stores under the ÆON umbrella in Japan officially changed their names to ÆON while all the JUSCO stores and shopping centres inMalaysiaare fully re-branded into ÆON since March 2012. However, JUSCO stores still operate in the Greater China region and some others.

In November 2012, ÆON acquired the operation ofCarrefour Malaysiawith an enterprise value of €250 million.^[4]All of the current Carrefour hypermarkets and supermarkets in Malaysia will be fully re-branded into “ÆON Big” in the near future. The acquisition of Carrefour Malaysia will make ÆON as the second largest retailer in the nation, combining the sales from ÆON Retail stores (formerly known as JUSCO) and current Carrefour outlets.^[5]Post-acquisition, ÆON’s ASEAN business vice president said the retail giant envisages to open 100 outlets in various formats in the country by year 2020.^[6]

AEON Stores (Hong Kong) Co., Limited was established in Hong Kong in November 1987 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in February 1994. AEON aims to develop a chain operation in Hong Kong and offer value-for-money merchandise to Hong Kong customers.