Iwakuni City Storefront Renewal Subsidy (Renovation Cost Support for Local SMEs)

1) Overview: Iwakuni City offers the Storefront Renewal Subsidy to revitalize commercial environments throughout the city (excluding the central commercial district covered by the Machinaka Regeneration grant). SMEs receive support for renovation work aimed at improving customer attractiveness, supporting daily-life shopping infrastructure and local employment. Applications are accepted on a first-come basis until the annual budget is exhausted. 2) Eligible Applicants: SMEs (including individual proprietors residing and operating in the city) whose main store is located in Iwakuni and who have continuously operated for at least 3 years in retail, food service, or living-related services (limited to laundry, barber, and beauty businesses). Unmanned stores, stores within large-scale retail facilities exceeding 1,000 sqm, stores inside public/educational/medical/welfare facilities, municipal-tax delinquents, organized-crime affiliates, adult-entertainment operators, and religious/political-purpose businesses are excluded. From FY R7 onward, past recipients may reapply if 3 years have elapsed since the prior grant. 3) Eligible Expenses and Content: Storefront renovation costs (the eligible expense must be at least 300,000 yen excluding tax). Eligible work includes exterior (wall repainting, signage, door/window replacement including automatic doors), interior (flooring, ceiling, restroom, kitchen, HVAC, lighting/wiring, display shelves, barrier-free remodeling). Excluded: new construction/extension, residential or office/warehouse portions, parking and landscaping, fire/security/solar/communications infrastructure, store-cleaning. Contractors must be Iwakuni-headquartered businesses, and contractors whose officers are within the 2nd degree of kinship of the applicant are ineligible. 4) Rate / Cap / Schedule / Application: The subsidy rate is 1/2 of eligible expenses (excluding consumption tax). The cap is 500,000 yen, raised to 800,000 yen via a 300,000-yen business-succession add-on if a succession is completed by the time of the results report (successor must be under 60 and continue operations for at least 5 years). Construction may not start before the city's grant decision; work and payment must be completed by March 31 of the grant-decision fiscal year. The results report is due within 30 days of payment or by March 31, whichever is earlier. The business plan must be endorsed by a management advisor at the Iwakuni Chamber of Commerce, Iwakuni-Nishi Chamber, or Yamashiro Chamber.