Sustainable private store

Taken in a space where you can eat in. Mr. Yamashita says he likes this space.

Mr. Yamashita has experience as a pastry chef. I asked him how he came to open the cornet specialty store.

– Please tell us about the event that led to the opening of the shop.

Mr. Yamashita: “I didn’t feel comfortable working as a salaryman. I wanted to do what I was most interested in freely. I was intrigued."

-How did your mother influence you?

Mr. Yamashita: "My parents' house was a residence and store, and my mother was home all the time...Perhaps because I have three siblings, she made sweets by hand so that we could eat without spending money and without worry.

My mother loves cooking and baking. She used to make madeleines and birthday cakes.  I don't remember ever having to go out to buy them and eat them.

At first, I just stood in the kitchen and watched my mother cook, but gradually I began to help her. Perhaps because of that, I became interested in cooking as well.

Above all, from that time on, my mother told me things like, "This is the best place to open a store," or "What kind of people live in which area and what kind of tastes people have." Maybe I was influenced by my mother's business perspective like that.

A view of the kitchen from the eat-in space.

-How did you come up with the concept of a cornet specialty shop?

Mr. Yamashita: “I have seen many things during my 10 years of service. It is common to start a business at a cake shop after training at a cake shop, but I had doubts about the cake shop business model.

When I talked to a senior who opened a business, I was impressed by the story that hiring employees was particularly difficult.

It is difficult for one person to arrange products in a showcase of a cake shop. When you hire someone, you have to pay them a salary.

Also, the person hired is motivated to improve his or her skills. In order to step up, they leave the nest for a different store when they get used to it. You need time to teach your employees, but it is difficult to get them to continue working at your store while utilizing the skills you have taught them.

In that aspect, I knew I needed to think about something I could do consistently on my own to open the kind of private store I had envisioned, one with a high degree of freedom. I needed to change my focus."

Mr. Yamashita: "As for products, I wanted something familiar. But even if they are familiar, cream puffs, roll cakes, cheesecakes, and tarts are not rare. However, if a product is rare but hard to convey, it's difficult.

I don't like doing the same things as other people, so I wanted to do something different."

-You also have a logical point of view.

Mr. Yamashita: “I am very strict about business.

During my training, I worked for a year at a private store in Shizuoka. The store was newly opened by a patissier who had returned to his hometown from Tokyo. It was small and sold cakes with a strong focus.

We started with great enthusiasm, hoping to exceed the sales of existing local stores, but it did not catch on with the locals.

At that time, I strongly realized that no matter how much we are particular about our products, if the customers are not satisfied with their tastes, there is no point in doing business. ”

-How is life now that you are actually open your own shop?

Mr. Yamashita: "When the shop first opened, I used the time before opening and after closing to do preparation and other work. I wanted to maximize the time the shop was open for customers.

But then, I had no time for myself. I would come to work at dawn and go home 2-3 hours after closing. I would not be able to keep up physically.

After all, it is a private shop, so the only person I can rely on is myself. I went through many trials and errors in store operations to find a style that would allow me to continue working alone for a long time. Now I go to work before the shop opens at 10:00 a.m., close at 6:00 p.m., and go home after a bit. I think I am able to concentrate more on my work now.

Life isn't just about work. I don't want to just work. A life in which you can freely enjoy things other than work is the best. ”

About the future

-What do you want to do in the future?

Mr. Yamashita: "I would like to maintain my current style. When you work alone, you have freedom, but you also have limitations. I started this business with that limitation in mind.
TThanks to the support of our customers, the third anniversary of the opening of the shop has been celebrated, and I feel that I have been able to convey the cornet to our customers in some respects. I would like to continue to maintain the quality of my products and have people eat them with peace of mind.

I honestly feel that it is inconvenient that there is no parking lot, but I would like you to stop by "cornerco" when using Kakuozan station or if you have the opportunity to come near the shop. At least once, I want people to try it.

Sweets are only a luxury item, and only a limited number of people eat them every day. But we want to deliver such sweets that enrich people's lives for a short time."