There seem to be a series of money-saving promotions, such as transportation-cost rebates, a free fifth visit, and discounts on reverse offers. Does this perhaps mean the economy is gradually getting worse?

Maezawa here with an answer. It seems the economic downturn hasn’t reached Universe yet, and I find myself wondering why business is doing so well. Still, it’s precisely when things are going well that we need to be careful—you never know where a pitfall might be hiding. As for the campaigns: The reverse-offer campaign was originally planned as an Okinawa-only campaign, with the goal of revitalizing Okinawa. However, other branches wanted to run it too, so it was expanded nationwide. So it isn’t really related to the recession, and I think it also helped raise awareness of “Suteki desu.” (Though the added workload has resulted in some criticism from a few men… >＜) I think the other campaigns also started because each branch wanted to try something specific. Rather than being driven by the recession, they probably came from a desire to try various new things.