What it will be!

Osaka's specialty okonomiyaki Impact of 90% decrease in sales May 7 11:37

"It's hard to understand the president. It's easier for us to accept it if you talk a little more clearly, because it's such a time."



This is an executive meeting of the okonomiyaki chain, which is said to be unknown to anyone in Osaka. It is a word directed to.

With many restaurants on the brink under the influence of the new Corona, the company is starting a series of new efforts to overcome the crisis by drawing out the wisdom and ingenuity of each and every employee.

Where is the aim?

We closely adhered to the second president who succeeded the founder of charisma.


(Tokuji Iesaka, Director, NHK Osaka)

Sales increased to 10% of the previous year

The sound of a lever that is dropped on an iron plate to handle the squirrel.

Drop the sauce and add plenty of mayonnaise and dried bonito flakes.



It is a long-established store that has been competing for 47 years with Osaka's taste "flour-mon" okonomiyaki, which had 77 stores mainly in downtown areas nationwide.

The store is chicly decorated and all staff wear cook clothes.

With the hospitality that sells "luxury" such as providing a place of worship for Islamic people, it has been supported by foreign tourists, and sales have been increasing rapidly in recent years.



However, the spread of the new coronavirus is facing unprecedented predicament.



At the flagship store, Dotonbori Building store in Minami, Osaka, which sold 500 million yen a year, sales in June last year fell to 10% of the previous year, and sales decreased across the board.

An opportunity to change the way we have been

President Nakai


"No one could have predicted that this would be a truly unimaginable situation."

President Kanji Nakai (44) declared in March last year that he would protect all 200 employees, including part-time workers, even if they were killed.

On the other hand, I wanted to use this crisis as an opportunity to change the way the company used to be.



Mr. Nakai became president three years ago.

My brother, who was supposed to succeed the founder's father (current chairman), died of illness, so I quit the securities company I was working for in a hurry.



There was a feeling of strangeness that I had been holding since then.

Under his father, who has expanded his business as a charismatic manager, the atmosphere of employees "do not think for themselves" and "do not give their opinions" was widespread throughout the company.

President Nakai


"Rather than following someone, we have to create a system where everyone can think for themselves, even if there is no founder or president, the company can turn around firmly."

That's where the "Reborn Conference" was launched.



We gathered 10 executives, including section chiefs and general managers who are familiar with the site, two or three times a month, and invited management consultants from outside to aim for thorough discussions.

Even if I was told to think for myself ...

However, employees do not change easily.

Discussions at the Reborn conference were initially sluggish.



The atmosphere changed last August.

It was a time when one of the members proposed a bold restructuring plan to close eight stores, which is 10% of the total, at once as the infection re-expanded and uncertainty about the future became stronger.



Mr. Nakai disagreed with this.

President Nakai:


"The number of stores has come out this time, so I'm not going to close all the stores. I've always said that I won't let any one quit."

Here, one of the executives who had hardly spoken so far spoke out.

Mr. Genji


"The president is hard to understand after all. Think about it, you talk like that, so it's easier for us to accept it if you talk a little more clearly. I have to decide to stop it comfortably in order to do it. "

This is Yuzo Genji, the head of the sales division at the top of the field.



Genji, who joined the company as a part-time job 20 years ago and has been standing on the scene.

As he witnessed a significant decline in sales, he said that the company could not survive if everyone's employment was protected.



Mr. Nakai hit the thoughts put into the reform at this timing.

President Nakai:


"It's been such a company until now. In a sense, the chairman decided to make a top-down decision. Everyone came to the right. Well, if all the members here don't decide, in a sense, everyone has to decide by the main character. That's how much thought they have in mind. "

Mr. Nakai and the executives who really collided with each other.



Feeling that seriousness, Mr. Nakai promised that the board of directors would consider the proposed withdrawal plan.

After that, the board of directors with the chairman officially decided to withdraw from the five stores.

Bottom-up new proposals

How to overcome the difficult situation.

Employees also brought in new suggestions.



Employees who checked the sales of all stores every day noticed that family visits were recovering.

Instead of the traditional store strategy centered on big cities, I thought that there were business opportunities in regions where the influence of corona was relatively small.



The bottleneck here is the price.

Another employee in charge of store development suggested a shift from the long-standing luxury line.

Breaking down the conventional concept, we are creating a store with a friendly atmosphere that is supported by young people.



Although there are risks, Mr. Nakai decided to move toward realization.



The store that was selected over the course of nearly three months was a shopping mall in Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture.

We have decided to abolish the iron plate of the table seats that have been sold for many years and reduce the unit price of the product by several hundred yen.

The person in charge is the second year after joining the company!

Mr. Nakai made another big decision when opening a store in a rural area.

I chose an inexperienced employee as the store manager.

Mr. Yuki Tsukiyama, who has been in the company for the second year, has been highly evaluated for his honest work, and I decided to bet on his breakthrough power.



The staff, led by Mr. Tsukiyama, prepared for the opening by repeating rehearsals that assumed the flow from ordering to serving food and interaction with customers until the day before.

The opening day of the store.

It's been a great success with lines at lunch time and dinner.

Mr. Tsukiyama confirms the cooperation of the staff while going back and forth between the customer service and the Chubo, and welcomes many customers.



Sales on the first day ...

Mr. Tsukiyama "405,000 yen. I went!"


Clerk "Oh!"

Amount close to twice the target.

Sales were comparable to the New Year, which was the largest throughout the year.

To a further leap

Starting with this store, which has made a good start, we will open stores in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture in March, and in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture in April. Continues.



Proposals from employees are also increasing.



One of them is the construction of a frozen okonomiyaki factory.

The service time, which has been a long-standing issue, has been significantly reduced, and store operations have been simplified.

In addition to the traditional "luxury routes," we are trying to create "stores that people can enjoy at low prices."



Mr. Nakai feels that bottom-up management, in which each employee thinks of himself as "oneself," is gradually gaining in popularity.

President Nakai


"Everyone is determined to be angry. I feel that they are facing the same direction and becoming a monolith, but after all Corona gives us the opportunity to polish ourselves again. I think it's like that. "

This time, the long-term close contact with Mr. Nakai lasted for 10 months, and even when the business crisis became a reality due to the spread of infection, I was asked to interview without hiding it.



In addition to paying homage to that courage, Mr. Nakai's heart is deep in the desire to share his thoughts with people at restaurants and other places nationwide who are suffering from the same problem, and to send ale. Isn't it?

"Fuku and eggplant in turn calamity"



we want to continue to follow the challenge and struggling second president and employees us.


Tokuji Iesaka,

Director of Osaka-based Broadcasting Station


Joined in 2017

Covered


the influence of the new corona centering on restaurants in Osaka