JUSCO (ジャスコ, Jasuko) is the acronym for Japan United Stores Company, a chain of "general merchandise stores" (or hypermarket) and the largest of its type in Japan. The various JUSCO companies are subsidiaries of the ÆON supermarket chain. The JUSCO name was adopted in 1970 from a company founded as a kimono silk trader in 1758. Renamed ÆON in 1989, it operates stores throughout Japan under JUSCO and other names and also has a presence in Malaysia, Hong Kong, mainland China and Thailand.