First an apology for not keeping this blog up to date the past two months. Too much traveling and getting into hotel rooms at 11pm is a reasonable excuse but not one I am very proud of. Expect me to do a lot better going forward.
Seven & i Holdings Entering China's Food Service Market
Seven & i Holdings, for those who do not know the company, is the most successful retailer in Japan with their convenience stores (Seven Eleven) , Super Stores (Ito Yokado) and restaurants (Denny's) among others. The Company pioneered the family restaurant category in the 1970's by taking out a license for the USA Denny's concept, and realized that mass localization of the menu was the only way to develop a profitable business. So the Company bought out the license from the USA parent and has developed over 500 stores in that time. Pizza Hut is the only successful Western family restaurant chain in China today with virtually no competition but this is likely to change if Seven & i Holdings takes something similar to the Japanese Denny's concept to China. Expect to see omurice, curry rice, hamburg steak and all the other westernized Japanese menu items (Yoshoku) together with Japanese food favorites like ramen and tonkatsu. This is a big idea that can definitely work. Stay tuned for updates!
