Yuta Endo, President and CEO of FS.Shake Co., Ltd.

We provide everyday meals with the added value of "fun."

Izakaya Toriichizu is a hugely successful restaurant chain, known for its cheap and delicious food, mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area. With annual sales of approximately 80 billion yen this fiscal year and a goal of reaching 100 stores by the end of the year, the chain shows no signs of stopping. We spoke to President Endo of FS.Shake Co., Ltd., which provides dining enjoyment to a variety of industries, including Toriichizu, about the secret to achieving its unrivaled reputation for being "cheap and delicious."

I hate to say it myself, but I was pretty smart as a student. However, I attended Matsue National College of Technology, a five-year program in Shimane Prefecture, but dropped out after four years. I started working part-time at Shirokiya in my third year, and I enjoyed it so much that I stopped going to school. However, when I got a job at Shirokiya at age 20, I quit soon after. My parents suggested I go to school, so I decided to move to Tokyo. After studying at Hattori Nutrition College for a year, I got a job at a traditional Japanese restaurant. However, I ended up quitting after a year there too, and after moving from company to company, I worked at Gaishoku Keikaku Co., Ltd. for five and a half years before going independent. The reason I decided to go independent was because, while I was given the freedom to work as a head chef, I began to feel a desire to do more. However, even when I offered my opinions on management, they often refused to listen, and I began to think, "Maybe it's better to start my own business." However, the experience I gained from researching and creating mizutaki at that time led to the concept of Toriichizu today.

■The key to Toriichizu's success lies here: Expanding stores through courageous management

When I founded Toriichizu, I struggled at first. I was in the red for six months straight. I started the business with 200 million yen in working capital, and it was scary to see my cash dwindling. The turning point was mizutaki (chicken hot pot). Perhaps because it was still a novelty at the time, sales exploded after I introduced mizutaki, and I was somehow able to turn a profit. After that, I managed to turn a profit in the second fiscal year, and finally in the third fiscal year I was able to borrow some money, so I opened three more stores. From the fourth fiscal year onwards, I was able to borrow even more money, so I turned a profit and put all my money into opening new stores, and I've been doing this cycle for 12 years now. This fiscal year, I plan to open about 30 stores, the most I've ever had.
Of course, opening a new store is not a gamble, so we hedge our risks by reducing costs as much as possible, such as by opening a store in an existing building. Even so, there aren't many CEOs who are the type to borrow as much money as they can and invest it in opening a new store like me. In fact, most of the people around me are conservative and open stores carefully. However, in my case, I have a goal of "100 stores and 10 billion yen in sales," so I think the only way to achieve this in the shortest time is to continue doing things the way I'm doing them now. Currently, we operate three brands, including monja and shisha, but it's quite difficult these days to make 10 billion yen with a single brand, so I think that having other business formats as well is FS.Shake's strength.

■The ingenuity behind achieving shockingly low prices and delicious food

It's often said that young people today are "turning away from alcohol," but I don't think that's the case. I think they're simply "turning away from beer." Currently, Toriichizu offers freshly squeezed lemon sours for 150 yen, creating a distinctive impact. In addition to offering affordable drinks, we differentiate ourselves by not charging for appetizers. I think it's common for cheap alcohol establishments to charge relatively high appetizers, leaving customers feeling "surprisingly expensive" when they pay. To avoid this, we strive to minimize any disappointment at the checkout, ensuring customers want to return. As for taste, as I used to be a chef, I confidently offer food that's better than other discount chains. To achieve both "delicious" and "affordable," minimizing waste is key. We achieve this by using chicken, which minimizes waste and is easy to manage. We create menus that delight customers by devising ways to present low-cost options as value for money.

■We create stores that are close to our customers, with a corporate culture of "just give it a try."

I'm always mindful of how I work. The restaurant industry was originally a shady industry, where employees couldn't take long holidays or paid vacation. So when I started the company, I created a system that made it easy for employees to take vacations, because I wanted them to take long holidays. I'm trying to build a company that makes part-time employees want to work here as full-time employees in the future. Also, because Toriichizu targets young customers, I hope to work with students who can give me their opinions on what they want. In fact, in response to their feedback, we introduced extra-large fries and all-you-can-drink non-draft drinks. This was a request from employees who listened to customer feedback firsthand, and it proved to be even more popular than I expected. As such, I believe it's important to try anything we can. As a company, we're within sight of our goal of achieving 10 billion yen in annual sales, and we expect to achieve that next fiscal year. Next, I'm considering expanding overseas, hoping to enter Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines and Vietnam. These countries have a young average age and are still developing, so I believe that if we can meet the needs of customers who want a certain type of restaurant, we can grow into a strong brand.

■Message to university students

I think it's fine to do things that are fun and interesting to you. There's no "it's better to do this." Having fun is the key, so do the fun things that only students can do. I want you to enjoy yourself to the fullest, whether you're playing or in a club. I think that if you give your all in everything, you'll eventually be able to give it your all in work too. I put my all into my part-time job, which is why I ended up in the profession I have now. I want everyone to have the experience of enjoying something to the fullest while they're still students.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on March 6, 2024 by Hinata Amie, a second-year student at Sophia University

Musashino University 4th year student Nishiyama Ryusei / Keio University Graduate School 2nd year student Yoshihiko Yoshi / Kyoritsu Women's Junior College 2nd year student Inomoto Reina / Sophia University 2nd year student Shirasaka Himari / Sophia University 2nd year student Amie Hinata