A Surprise For Bikkuri Sushi

[Mulboyne]

Bikkuri Honpo, which operates the Bikkuri Sushi chain as well as some sumibiyaki and yakiniku restaurants, has applied to the courts for protection under the Civil Rehabilitation law. According to Teikoku Databank, total liabilities amount to around 5 billion yen. Management blames its troubles on the BSE scares which turned customers away from grilled meat restaurants and put paid to their diversification plans. They also say that they couldn't find enough staff to maintain an expansion of their sushi business which led to a deterioration in their financial position. When further fundraising efforts yielded no results, the company had no option but to resort to the courts. Bikkuri started business in 1983 and is known as a conveyor belt "kaiten" sushi restaurant even though the majority of its over forty outlets are ordinary counter and table style restaurants. It is not related to any of the numerous restaurants overseas using the name "Bikkuri Sushi".

[gkanai]

I'll bet they were also squeezed on the fish-pricing side too.

If this crash means that bad businesses get whacked, long-term that's a healthy outcome.

[omae mona]

That brings back memories. Maybe false memories! Back when I first came to Japan I used to frequent a kaiten-zushi in Roppongi. It probably took me 10 minutes a pop to read the 4 hiragana characters in the name, at the time. But I think it was a branch of Bikkuri Sushi.

Am I understanding that article properly? They are blaming their bankruptcy on NOT expanding their chain? That's a new one. How exactly does spending more money on launching new restaurants help you stay solvent? And then further they say they were impeded by not being able to hire? I mean I guess there are specialty skills needed (chefs), but is Japan undergoing a sushi chef shortage?

[Mulboyne]

...Am I understanding that article properly? They are blaming their bankruptcy on NOT expanding their chain? That's a new one. How exactly does spending more money on launching new restaurants help you stay solvent? And then further they say they were impeded by not being able to hire? I mean I guess there are specialty skills needed (chefs), but is Japan undergoing a sushi chef shortage?

The arguments they give for going bust don't really sound credible. It sounds more like a bog-standard cashflow crisis. Knowing nothing about the particulars, I think they ran their business with a tight break-even, constantly reinvesting profits in new outlets and borrowing when they weren't throwing off enough cash. It only takes a small stumble to put you in a precarious position.