Osakaya Seika is a Bean Sweets specialty store that has been in business for over 60 years and is headquartered in Kagoshima. Although we are a long-established store, we continue to create new Bean Sweets and take on challenges, and in 2018 we opened a premium Bean Sweets store, `` umami nuts'' in Kokusai Bldg. on Marunouchi-Nakadori Ave.. We asked the store manager, Mr. Ohno, who works here and can be considered an evangelist for umami nuts, about the charm of this town from his point of view.

Marunouchi, where many customers can “see your face”

Mr. Ohno, who has been the store manager since umami nuts opened, has experience selling food and beverages at department stores.
``In my previous job, I worked at a tsukudani shop with a long history, so I felt sympathy for the long-established Osakaya Confectionery, which values ``tradition'' while taking on new challenges with `` umami nuts''. As I continue to stand here, I have come to realize that the city of Marunouchi itself is a combination of tradition and innovation.Our customers come from a wide range of ages, from the young to the elderly. For younger people, Marunouchi no longer has the image of being a shopping town where you can find everything, but for older people, many of them worked there when it was a business district without commercial facilities, so it is now a city where you can find everything. However, all of our customers tell us that they love Marunouchi.The streets are wide and the streets are laid-back, so you can shop to your heart's content at your own pace. The image is that it is a town where you can enjoy food, nature, and art."

umami nuts are created by combining the skill of craftsmen with the highest quality materials. To ensure that you can enjoy our bean sweets in a delicious state, we have set an expiration date of one and a half months, which is about half Period of regular Bean Sweets.

Our carefully made products are in high demand as gifts, and many people buy them as Presents for businessmen, secretaries, and relatives, and most of them are repeat customers who visit our store many times. He said he would give it to me.

“Thankfully, there are many customers who can see your face.This is not limited to stores, but also customers who purchase online.At our company, online orders are also handled by customers at stores such as myself. Our staff will assist you.When shipping, we don't just send the product, we also make sure to include a handwritten message, and when communicating via email, we ask about the situation and ask about the product and Noshi. We respond carefully to each and every suggestion, confirmation, etc.As a result, we sometimes have customers who have placed an order online come all the way to our store.They say, ``I came because I wanted to see your face.'' We've had customers who ordered them as gifts for the birth of their children bring their children with them and tell us how big they've become. I'm really happy."

Taking on the challenge of being a long-established Bean Sweets store in the prestigious town of Marunouchi

Nozomi Mizuno, Brand Manager of Osaka-ya Confectionery, the company behind umami nuts, also explains how the Marunouchi location was chosen for the launch.
We wanted to challenge ourselves to see how we could be recognized in Marunouchi, the center of Japan and home to many prestigious brands. We have set a lofty goal to express our world-class 'umami' at Bean Sweets, first in Japan and then around the world. To achieve this goal, umami nuts is based on the manufacturing process that Osakaya Seika has developed for its other brands, but with 'added value' such as the use of premium ingredients."

The "added value" mentioned here also extends to customer service. As a place to disseminate world-class products, Mr. Ohno has one thing in mind.

``What I tell my staff, including myself, and what we keep in mind throughout the store is, ``First of all, be a person who notices.'' We want to be proactive and considerate of what we can do to make our customers happy. I want them to be able to do this.It's a basic thing, but for example, if it looks like it's going to rain, I'll suggest you a rain cover, or if you have a lot of luggage, I'll pack it up for you.Once you gain experience, you can do the work naturally. ``Attentiveness'' is what I value most.''

On the other hand, he goes on to say that there are some things that are helped by customers in Marunouchi.

``During the year-end and Christmas seasons, there are times when we have to keep our customers waiting, and at those times we ask them to follow up with us.For example, we ask customers to follow up with us.For example, when a regular customer visits the store for the first time, They explained the flavors to us, and they took the trays away after we had sampled them... I'm truly grateful and moved that they were so accepting of us.''

Contributing to the community begins with communication with people

It's been 4 years since we opened our store in Marunouchi. During that time, there was also the spread of the new coronavirus, but he said he felt that it was because umami nuts were loved so much by customers.
“After experiencing the new coronavirus, I realized once again how painful it is to not be able to meet our customers.Our customers have also said to us, ``We don't just come to buy products, but to share a good time through conversation.'' We sometimes hear from customers saying, ``I came shopping because I wanted to.''I believe that the communication and trusting relationship we have with customers through customer service is what contributes to value that money cannot buy.From now on, we are able to contribute to value that cannot be bought with money. We would like to increase and spread the brand's premium feel through the store."

Mr. Ohno, who values his closeness with his customers, thinks about the future of Marunouchi and umami nuts.
“I would like to continue to value people, based on the premise that umami nuts stores are places that provide unique products.In particular, the store manager's job is to first and foremost support the employees. I think it's important to take care of your staff.By taking care of your staff, that staff will be able to take good care of your customers, which will lead to a chain of events that will lead to the delivery of your products and eventually contributing to Marunouchi.This is... Things will not change even if face-to-face contact is reduced.The connections between store staff, horizontal connections with other stores working in Marunouchi, and connections with customers.I hope we can continue to move forward with Marunouchi while valuing all of these things. ”.