“Awareness” brought about by the change in the idea of “I have sweets” 14:42, July 2
Nobeoka City in the northern part of Kyushu and Miyazaki Prefecture. Recently, I've been seeing cars running around with nostalgic nursery rhymes. When I chased after the car and looked into it, there were many yokan and baked goods. To tell the truth, this is a “secret measure” devised by a long-established confectionery store while suffering from a drop in sales due to the new coronavirus. I closely followed the president's challenge of turning the pinch into an opportunity. (Miyazaki Broadcasting Station reporter Sho Sato)
A long-established confectionery store is also in a pinch! !!
It was late May that I visited for coverage. Although the effects of the new coronavirus continued to be difficult, President Koichi Ueda greeted me with a smile.
Ueda is the second generation of "Torahiko", a long-established confectionery store that has been loved by citizens for 70 years. The store manufactures and sells more than 50 types of Japanese confectioneries and cakes, including new products developed from itself.
Above all, “Dorayaki” and “Yokan” using anko are very popular, and it is said that many people visit the store every day and stable sales have continued for many years.
Mr. Ueda was happy to talk about shops and products, but when he talked about the new coronavirus, his expression suddenly clouded.
Mr. Ueda
"I was in a situation that I had never imagined and felt dark."
A new coronavirus that has spread nationwide. In early April, infected people were finally confirmed in Nobeoka City. After that, due to self-exclusion and other factors, the number of customers who visited more than 100 people a day decreased dramatically.
Shipments to Tokyo and other areas have almost disappeared, and sales in April have fallen to about half the usual levels.
From "wait at the store" to "go to sell"
It is the first situation that "customers do not come" since becoming president 22 years ago. After wondering what to do, Mr. Ueda decided to ask the employees for his opinion by questionnaire.
Therefore, the most common method is to hit outside and sell while moving instead of waiting at the store.
Mr. Ueda
"I thought that a store could only be established when a customer came, but I realized that we could move around."
"Handmade" challenge
However, mobile sales is the first experience for Mr. Ueda. When asked what he had done to sell it, Mr. Ueda brought a piece of paper and a brush pen.
In addition to the recommended products, I was making a leaflet in which the place to visit and the date and time were written by hand. When I wrote it, I meant to write it as if I were writing a letter to a relative or someone who was looking after me.
Furthermore, on the day before the visit, the employees fly around the houses one by one and post them directly to the post.
I also accompanied him, but the residents who were interested in seeing how to hand out leaflets while cheerfully greeted me were greeted here and there.
He says that he may walk 30,000 steps a day, but the employee said with a smile, "I'll do my best if I can buy you tomorrow."
"I can't move forward at all"
And the morning of the day of departure we met. Mr. Ueda and his colleagues packed hundreds of sweets of about 30 types on the shelves of commercial vans.
If you look closely, the shelf was made of telescopic type stretch rods bought at a 100 yen shop and non-slip rubber like a torn piece. Such places are also "handmade".
And Mr. Ueda drives and visits various places. I followed the car that ran while playing a nostalgic nursery rhyme. When we stopped at the scheduled place with the announcement that we had some sweets to inform us of the arrival, customers gathered to attract us.
In the hands of the customers who ordered the lined sweets one after another, the leaflets encircling the desired product were held. There are no more customers, so I will start again. Then, immediately after several tens of meters, another figure of a resident appears...
Mr. Ueda smiled with a smile more popular than I imagined, and said, "I can't move forward at all." It was a happy scream that I spilled unexpectedly as I watched the customers choosing products happily.
Going outside and realizing "important things"
Mr. Ueda says that a certain “word” was especially impressive in the conversation with the gathered customers.
It is the voice from older people, saying, "It's difficult to get to the store. There were many people who could not go to the shop because their legs were weak.
In fact, there are days when more than 100 customers come to mobile sales, and it is said that sales have exceeded the sales of conventional stores.
Driven by "customer smile"
Faced with the pinch due to the new coronavirus, new "awareness" gained through the challenge to overcome it.
Mr. Ueda is enthusiastic about expanding the sales area in the future, because there are still many people who can't go to the store even if they don't want to go, especially in the mountainous areas where transportation is poor.
Ueda:
“Customers' smiles are the driving force that makes us want to do our best again. We can use these smiles as a power to make them smile for the many people waiting for us and for them. I will do my best.
Ueda continues to deliver sweets with a smile today.
Miyazaki Broadcasting Station Reporter
Sho Sato
Joined in 2015 After leaving
Fukui station, Miyazaki station is
currently covering a wide range of sports and disasters at the Nobeoka branch.