Tampopo founders' East Street brand sees 80% like-for-like sales increase
Tampopo's new restaurant concept East Street, which opened in London in late 2011, has seen sales rise 80% on last year, after a slow start.
East Street, the brainchild of Tampopo co-founders David Fox and Nick Jeffrey, opened in Rathbone Place off Oxford Street in December 2011. The pair decided to go into the site after a deal with Mitchells and Butlers to take over the Tampopo brand fell through. The bar and restaurant giant has since opened its own Asian dining concept Tuk Cho.
Fox said that the last six months at the site had proved positive, with January 2013 like-for-like sales up 80% on January 2012, following a slow start.
"The location is not on a main pitch but the fact we knew that Byron were going in next to us gave us some comfort," he said "The evenings were slow, not so much the lunches. I think that as a leisure pitch it needed to be established." He added that the opening of a Primark around the corner had also provided a welcome boost to weekend trade.
Fox and Jeffrey plan to roll out more East Street sites within the M25, although there are none in the pipeline so far.
Meanwhile, Fox said trade for its regional Asian casual dining brand Tampopo was becoming more predictable, after around 18 months of volatility.
"Our existing sites for the six months to December were about +6% on like for likes, which is pleasing because I would say our price rises would have been comfortably less than that. The general sentiment is that we are not out of the woods in terms of trading but while there is still a fair amount of uncertainty, the last six months have been more predictable than the last 18 months," he said.
Tampopo launches first central London site under new East Street brand >>
By Neil Gerrard
E-mail your comments to Neil Gerrard here.
Catererandhotelkeeper.com jobs
Looking for a new job? Find your next job here with Catererandhotelkeeper.com jobs
