Sennensha Vietnam

Arigatou Blog Arigatou Blog Blog Arigatou Cafe

episode-3

We opened Japanese styled cafe in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Main product is fluffy “kakigori”.

Mai, a Vietnamese exchange student, from Hanoi – where our cafe is active, exclaimed "This is a bad location!" as she checked the map of where the cafe was going to open.
Our store is located in Dong Da District, Hanoi.
It is about 10 minute walk from metropolitan railway Ga La Thanh Stationwhich is going to open soon.

This area is a quiet residential area surrounded by three large roads.
One is Pho O Cho Duastreet, which runs from east to west.
Width of the road is definitely 50 meters. Just getting across is not easy. So, during morning and evening rush hour, you have to be brave to do that.
This road is connected to Pho Hoang Cau Street, which runs in a north-south direction on the right side of Ho Dong Da Lake.
And the other road is Pho Nguyen Luong Bang Street.
It is a road that leads to the suburbs of Hanoi, as far as I know.
Every day, including weekends, there is a huge traffic jam. Motorcycle lines go on and on for 100m, 200m, 300m.
So if you think you can cut in, even just a little, motorcycle whistles sound, and the wave of hundreds of motorcycles move forward little by little. At the first time, when I saw this scene, I was amazed. And at the same time, I clearly remember, how I thought “Would I be able to survive in this city?”, while I was looking at the line of motorcycles.

I heard that it is supposed to begin running soon. Cafes are opening, boutiques are springing up and the city is slowly changing itself in expectation of the opening.

The road in front of the cafe is narrow. In the mornings and evenings, only parents with children going to the nearby kindergarten, and motorcycles that seem to be using the road as a way to get to work just passing through. Otherwise, the town is very quiet on weekends.

“I can't believe they opened the cafe in such a quiet place…”
It makes sense that Mai, who is familiar with Hanoi, think so. Nearby, there is a civic park, a crematorium, hospitals and a church. Since this is a Mahayana Buddhist country, there is a temple, too. A morning market is held every day.
You can find everything from carps, seafood, meat, fruits, prepared foods, and daily necessities.
There is also a mini-supermarket which is slightly larger than a convenience store.
You can start your day with the energy of the market in the morning.

There is a gate located in a narrow alley and it is announced as "Nam Dong Pagoda”.
It must be a very old town. Just walking into a dimly lit alley from a wide street makes me feel like I'm going back in time.

Many of these historical buildings and artifacts can be found in the streets of Hanoi. If you put them on a map, you will be able to see the road network of decades and centuries. Then you can overlay the church and lake on the map.

"Retailing begins and ends with location!"

Mai, who has been working part-timely at Sennensha company in Japan for over than three years, checked the map to see where the cafe would be open and made her face look like, " You sure you want to do this?"
“ARIGATOU” cafe is run by a design and IT company called Sennensha Vietnam.
The head office of Sennensha Vietnam is located in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
For more than 20 years, we have been operating businesses oriented on advertising, sales promotion planning and IT.
To put it simply, our main business is "planning and providing ideas for business prosperity.”

Therefore, it does not make much sense to build a successful restaurant in a good location, even in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Indeed, even if you invest a huge amount of money to build a prosperous store, it will not be appreciated.
Indeed, even if you invest a huge amount of money to build a prosperous store, it will not be appreciated.

How well will the "Japanese brand and Japanese quality" work in Vietnam, which is said to be Japan friendly?
In Japan, the time frame for setting up a business area is 5 or 10 minutes, assuming that customers will visit the store walking or by car.
Also, define the trade area according to your industry by the amount of traffic in front of your store, the number of customers passing by, and the number of households and population in the area.
The main transportation method in Vietnam is “motorcycle.”
"Japanese Brand" x "Japanese Quality" x " Visit by Motorcycle" will be the key to at tracting customers.
It is also quite possible that the "hiding place" idea will work.
I visited Hanoi many times as a tourist more than a year before. I entered the city, and finally found the desired location in Hanoi.The final point of decision was the comfor table environment and safety for the employees residing in Hanoi. 

To Be Continued

Prev

Next