Hampden County (Boston, Worcester, Springfield: lease, house, landlord)

[nicolachen]

Which city is best for openning a japanese restaurant in the Hampden County? looking for a good city and it doesnt have many japanese restaurant. such like (boston and worcester both city has tons of japanese resturant already) please kind give us some advise thank you

[smarty]

Just curious. What kind of Japanese restaurant are you thinking about? What price range or people are you targeting? How many seat?

For Hampden County, The median income for a household in the county was $39,718, and the median income for a family was $49,257. Almost 15% of the population below poverty line. Can it support a Japanese restaurant?

For Middlesex County, The median income for a household in the county was $60,821, and the median income for a family was $74,194. 6.50% of the population were below the poverty line.

[nicolachen]

as far as i know in the northampton area there's alot japanese restaurants and it has never went out of business just keeps better. which means in the hampden county can be consider openning one japanese restaurant.

as compare to the middlesex county there are alot japanese restuarant too and there business is no doubt is making good profit. but there rent is soo ex*****ve. which i have to consider that too.

this is the first japanese resturant i m going to open is within my budget so i be more into the hampden county for now.

Norfolk and middlesex maybe in the future thank you for your info.

[winnie]

Well, in Chicopee there are a lot of resturants on Memorial Drive. To the best of my knowledge the big dawg there is the Hu Ke Lau resturant, which is polynesian buffet and they do have a sushi bar.

They do extraordinarily well and have comedy hour and all sorts of things going on. But they are a buffet...a little more homely but still have that buffet feel to me.

In Northampton there is at least one sushi resturant that I know of, that is the Teapot in the main area past the church on rte 9. They are a nice resturant and pretty much all the resturants there do well.

If you have good food then you should have no problem staying in business in Westfield, Springfield (though you need to be really picky about where you choose as a lot of areas are run down - near the hippodrome has a few good eateries) Chicopee has got good potential, they are putting in more and more stores, memorial drive is where the action is at, or James st.

Ludlow would be an interesting option, they have great access to the pike and people that want to get out of the city for a nice sit down would probably enjoy heading out there..then there is near the mall on Boston Rd (shoot I can't remember the name of it sorry ) a ton of good resturants.

Hadley, Holyoke near the mall, Amherst BIG TIME, Westfield, West Srpingfield, all good areas. People up there love to go out to eat and it seems that the resturants are always jammin.

There are a ton of really good resturants there so beware it is competitive. there is the delaney house, log cabin, salem cross inn, hadleigh house - these are the uppity ones, and numerous great italian places, seafood joints..

But the market for Japanese seems to be a good prospect for the area. The hukelau is the main game in town and i think if you had a Japanese steakhouse you would take some of their clientelle looking for a quieter more upscale area to eat. There are a lot of college kids at Smith and Umass and you would be surprised at how many of them you will see coming in for some food. MC Donalds is not the college kid's staple up there that is for sure..even the main pizzaria is awesome!

Gosh I miss western MA my tummy is growling!

Good luck I hope this has helped some it is late and I am wiped so if any questions feel free ask away.

[smarty]

I agree with Winne. Japanese steak house may be the way to go. Especially the open grill with a chef cook/perform in front of you (like Bisuteki in Cambridge or Chef Orient in Framingham). However, it is big investment in terms of equipment. I find MA very conservative (mostly meat and potato). Very few people will order $40 sushi boat west of Worcester.

Restaurant business is very competitive (anywhere). More than half of the new restaurants opened go out of business in a year or two. Like all business plan, you need to find a niche.

Use Chinese restaurant as an example, 10 years ago there were 2 in my area. Now there are 20. Only the best survive. You can see signs of trouble if a restaurant goes from a sit down to a buffet style. Usually, they are sold within a couple of years (under new management.. instead of going out of business).

Btw, which one do you like better Ginza (Chinatown), Fugakyu (Brookline) or Oishii (Chestnut Hill)? What about Minado as buffet? Do you have any Japanese place you would recommend? Of course, if you say your place, I'll be right over.

[nicolachen]

thanks winnie and smarty for your advice. I was planning to open one in South Hadley (also thinking of Ludlow and belchertown area too) what you guys think..... I know Japanese Steak house is good but i dont think i want to do a steak house i was thinking just a sushi bar. what would you guys think????

[gregs]

In regards to areas for restaurants (other than Boston), I would recommend the Northampton/Amherst area. I grew up in that area and return often for visits. Northampton/Amherst is the cultural area of Western Massachusetts. Within these cities there are many colleges (Amherst, Smith College and UMASS.

[nicolachen]

Hi Gregs
yes i understand where you coming from.....i also lived in amherst before went to the Umass. i like the culture area but in northampton there's tons of japanese resturant already such as osak, tea pot, moshi moshi, tokoyo sushi, there's a korean resturant also has sushi,and others too.... as in Amherst I know teryaki house, goten, panda east, arigato, etc... the japanese resturant is too many already..... competitive is extremly high....

the other cultural area i could think is south hadley where the mt. holyoke is located...... what do u think? or should i look more into other towns such as ludlow, agawam, belchertown ???

[ontheroad]

Another former Pioneer Valley resident, I'd say you might do well in South Hadley, but on the face of it wouldn't recommend Ludlow, Agawam or Belchertown --- then again, I think I've heard Belchertown is growing.

Have you checked out--eating--at all the local Japanese type restaurants in the area? If I remember correctly, they ain't all doing a great business, but times do change.

Good luck! I love, love Japanese food--especially fresh sushi!

Originally Posted by nicolachen

Hi Gregs
yes i understand where you coming from.....i also lived in amherst before went to the Umass. i like the culture area but in northampton there's tons of japanese resturant already such as osak, tea pot, moshi moshi, tokoyo sushi, there's a korean resturant also has sushi,and others too.... as in Amherst I know teryaki house, goten, panda east, arigato, etc... the japanese resturant is too many already..... competitive is extremly high....

the other cultural area i could think is south hadley where the mt. holyoke is located...... what do u think? or should i look more into other towns such as ludlow, agawam, belchertown ???

[smarty]

Originally Posted by nicolachen

thanks winnie and smarty for your advice. I was planning to open one in South Hadley (also thinking of Ludlow and belchertown area too) what you guys think..... I know Japanese Steak house is good but i dont think i want to do a steak house i was thinking just a sushi bar. what would you guys think????

Again. I cannot answer that. It is not what you are opening but what separate you from others. If you are successful, what prevents others from doing the same thing.

Some questions you should ask yourself and answer honestly.
Is your sushi extremely good? special?
Who are your customers? Would they pay what you ask?
Why would they choose your sushi bar versus another sushi place?
Why would they choose Japanese versus Chinese, Italian, ...?
Do you have a special sushi chef? What keeps him in your restaurant?
How long will you sign your lease? If you are successful, will your landlord raise 50% rent next year? What if he doubles your rent?
Have you worked and manage restaurant's before? Do you know what is involved?
Is your menu just sushi? What else do you offer to those who are skeptical to sushi?

Nowadays, it is not just the food. It is service, price, ambiance and consistency. Many restaurants turn into Karaoke bars or comedy night clubs. Last of all, sushi is about freshness. Will you have enough volume to keep stuff fresh?

Do your research. Have a business plan before jumping in. I know people spent $2million renovating his restaurant and it was closed in a year.