Saizeriya

History

The current president of the company, Yasuhiko Shōgaki, worked at a western restaurant in Ichikawa, Chiba called Saizeriya while he was attending Tokyo University of Science. The manager at the time recognized his skill, and when Shōgaki became a senior in school, he inherited the restaurant. Italian cuisine was becoming more popular at the time, so Shōgaki converted the restaurant to Italian food - but customers stopped coming. Shōgaki then cut the prices by 70%, and the restaurant did so well that lines started to appear, and he had to open another store.

In May 1973, Shōgaki established a kabushiki gaisha called Maria-nu (マリアーヌ) in Ichikawa. The company then started doing expanding as a restaurant chain. The headquarters continued to be in Chiba prefecture. In 1987, the company changed its name to Maria-no (マリアーノ). In 1992, the company again changed its name to Saizeriya.

These days, the network of stores has grown considerably. As a low-price restaurant, the chain has grown to over 750 stores. There are a few forms that Saizeriya locations can take: they can be found in any number of buildings in Japan, as roadside stores, as piloti types, locations in commerce buildings and train stations, and so on. If a desirable location is found, without questioning, they will actively continue in the capital region. Because Saizeriya will open a store where a competitor has withdrawn, the form of Saizeriya stores, as well as their trademarked logo that is posted on billboards is often varied.

Starting on August 24, 2005, they started operating a fast food store called "Eat Run" (イート・ラン). As of 2008, they operate three stores: one in Jūjō, Tokyo, one in Kawaguchi, and one in Aoto, Katsushika, Tokyo.

In October 2006 it was announced that Saizeriya's stores had done the best in 8 years. As of August of that year, sales were up by 3%. Customer numbers were up by 2.1%, and the average amount spent per customer had increased by 0.8%. The company was able to cover the price of increasing its stores, as well as also improving the quality of the menu and achieve better results while also increasing its base customers and amount sold.

The restaurant has been in the news in Japan for serving pizza with melamine-tainted dough from China in October 2008.

Timeline

Features

For only 26,000 yen, one can order everything on Saizeriya's low price menu. This was done on the July 18, 2008 broadcast of Rankin no Rakuen, a variety show. Stores offer a number of alcoholic drinks and more than 10 types of wines. Saizeriya is the number one importer of Italian wine into Japan.

The store is not limited to Italian food; gratin and Hamburg steaks were added to the menu, and a takeout menu was created. The interior design of the store is decorated with pictures suggesting Italy, and Italian-style paintings are affixed to the ceilings.

Saizeriya dishes have been rated by Italians on Japanese TV with the minestrone soup receiving a score of 18 out of a possible 50 points and the tomato cream spaghetti a score of 9 points out of 50.

Management company

In August 2008, Saizeriya Co,. Ltd. started a chain of fast food hamburger specialty shops called "Eat Run" (イートラン). There are currently six shops. In June 2003, a subsidiary was established in Shanghai, and as of August 2007, fifteen stores were in operation there.