DEAN & DELUCA

[torakris]

The first Dean and Deluca store opened in the Marunouchi (Tokyo station) area of Tokyo on June 3, 2003.

I am having a hard time finding out anything (in English or Japananese) about it but apparently there is a deli, bakery, espresso bar and restaurant.

Guess I will just have to make a trip there to find out more!

[Fat Guy]

"On June 4, 2003 Dean & Deluca opened its first international location in Tokyo's Marunouchi district. The 1,800 square foot cafe, located at 1-4-5 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku in Tokyo, attracted throngs of customers and has averaged a phenomenal $20,000.00 in sales per day in its first week of business."

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030611/115364_1.html

[torakris]

article about them in the Japan Times:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getart...g20030613rs.htm

[Mark Sommelier]

The Dean & Deluca here in Georgetown used to be my favorite store. Whole Foods Market opened last year on P St. in mid-town DC. This is a great store, they leave D&D in the dust. The service is 20 times better. The selection: meat, seafood, vegetables is far better, also. In reference to an earlier post, $20,000 a day seems like a low figure. Busy, large supermarkets in the US take in over $100,000 a day in some cities. Grocery store volumes are huge, profit margins are slim.

[torakris]

Well, I went, saw, and

was disappointed.

The store/restaurant is tiny, you can barely move around it. We decided to sit in the restaurant, since there is no other place to sit, and we were handed a lunch menu with 6 choices, everything was 1200yen (about $10) which wasn't bad for an entree, salad, and drink. But the portions were tiny! even compared to Japan standards and quite disappointing in flavor. We were still hungry so we ordered more coffee (which was quite good) and chocolate-espresso cakes (which were excellent). We ended up paying $20 a piece for our lunches, which is on the pricey side, even for Tokyo.

Then I went to browse the itty bitty store, the breads looked good but there wasn't much variety and the prices were outrageous, the deli had about 7, maybe 8 selections and looked decent but not worth the price, the gravlax wass elling for 900yen ($8) per 100 grams (less than a quarter of a pound) and the cheese case was about 2 feet square and the few cheeses they had were about twice the price as I could get at an International supermarket. Finally the dry goods, I picked up a jar of marinara pasta sauce, saw a price of 1800yen (($15.50) and almost dropped it! Later I checked on the Dean and Deluca website and the same pasta sauce was selling 3 jars for $24, this is almost double the price! needless to say I came home empty handed....

[torakris]

Dean & Deluca seems to be a success here in Japan.

The 2nd store opened a couple months back in Shibuya and the 3rd one just opened this month in Shinagawa.

http://www.deandeluca.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...ews1.d2w/report

[prasantrin]

Dean & Deluca seems to be a success here in Japan.

The 2nd store opened a couple months back in Shibuya and the 3rd one just opened this month in Shinagawa.

Do you think Dean & Deluca, despite its current success, will go the way of Williams-Sonoma? It was also far pricier than its American counterpart and it seemed popular when it first opened. There were a few branches across Japan (that I remember, one in Shibuya, one in Kyoto, and one in Osaka at the very least). I think it only lasted about 4 or 5 years, though (IIRC, it opened maybe in 95 and closed sometime around '99).

[torakris]

There is a good chance it might. Imported foods are really big right now, there was another "boom" about 15 years ago around the height of the bubble and then it slowly dissapated. the past couple years have an increasing trend in foreign made food products and foreign stores/bakeris/restaurants/etc. Some of them do better than others but quite of few of them suddenly disappear.

I think Dean and Deluca is a novelty right now and in a couple years they are going to have a hard time keeping customers with those prices.

[torakris]

Well they seem to be doing quite well...

From the Japan Time:

With its latest outlet having recently opened in the food court of Shibuya's Tokyu department store, trendy Manhattan deli Dean & Deluca has carved a special niche for itself at the top of the high-end food business. With a store in Marunouchi and another in the newly revamped Shinagawa Station building, the all-American chain is proving to be a firm favorite with Tokyo gastrophiles (gourmets). New York staples like doughnuts and bagels are freshly baked using additive-free traditional recipes while a selection of French bread and pastries is also laid out in sumptuous style.

and

An assortment of Christmas goods has just been rolled out to tempt Tokyoites into giving their celebrations a trendy twist from the Big Apple. The seasonal offerings include a chicken, Christmas cake and tote bag gift set for 10,000 yen, a mini Turkey imported from France (4,800 yen) and a Buche de Noel (Christmas Log), made especially by Tokyo patisserie La Precieuse, for 4,500 yen.

full article:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getart...l20041217mw.htm