Why won't Nomusin Shoten go bankrupt even during the coronavirus pandemic?

My name is Fujisawa, and I work in public relations and recruitment. I've become addicted to K-POP thanks to Nizi Project

you know "Nomshin Shoten"

In fact, at Beyond, engineers purchase food and sell it in the office .

▲ Nomusin Shoten is located in the break room and sells cup ramen, snacks, etc. When making a purchase, you put money into the piggy bank and choose the item you want

 

▲ There is also a refrigerator for Nomushin Shoten, with a wide variety of drinks including coffee and soup

 

The person running Nomushin Shoten is the man in the middle, smiling with an energy drink in hand

This person is Nomura Yuki (nickname: Nomushin), our server-side engineer and owner of Nomushin Shoten

Nomusin is in charge of all the purchasing and sales calculations

has been implementing work-from-home policies for all employees since April 2020

With almost no people in the office, naturally fewer people will be using Nomshin Shop

However, Nomusin Shoten has not fallen into financial difficulties and continues to operate normally

You may be wondering, ``Why is this happening?''

we asked Nomusin from the System Development Department, "Why hasn't Nomusin Shoten gone bankrupt even during the coronavirus pandemic?"

▲Interviewed online

Nomushin Shoten History

-Why did you start Nomusin Shoten?

Before we moved to our new office*, we outsourced ordering of snacks and cup ramen, but a lot of the orders were cheap, no-brand cup ramen, which wasn't very popular with employees

* Moved from Sakuragawa to Namba in February 2018

▲The break room in the old office

 

I was jokingly saying, "If I were to run a store, I'd stock better products," when someone posted the following in our company's "suggestion chat."

▲ Posted on July 24, 2014. Exactly six years ago

 

The suggestion was made without my presence that we should sell cup ramen that I had carefully selected, and Mr. Haraoka (CEO) said it was a good idea, and that's how it got started

How Nomushin Shop works

-How do you procure your goods?

The supplier is a trade secret

At first, we only had cup ramen, but gradually we started stocking canned coffee and other items

They are selling them so cheaply that some people have speculated that they are stealing them from somewhere, but they are buying them properly

However, it's getting tough to sell drinks for 50 yen each...I buy them in a case of 30 bottles for 2,980 yen

-By the way, do you like cup ramen yourself?

If you ask me whether I like it or not, I say I like it

I don't eat it that often

-What is your basis for selecting products?

I have my preferences

I don't sell products that I don't think anyone would buy at that price

People in the company say, "You're only buying unique products that you've never seen in stores," but in the end, the things you can buy for 50 yen tend to be unique items

In the worst case scenario, I choose items that I can take home and dispose of myself if they don't sell

-What products have you found to be a big hit?

Canned coffee and other standard products sell well

When it comes to sweets , there was a time when everyone was eating Dragon Potatoes

Another product that has received good reviews is " Baby Star Sea and Meat Flavor ."

▲The legendary sweets that are rumored to be the most delicious in the history of Nomushin Shoten

 

Limited edition products sold at convenience stores are sold at a discount after the season is over

I bought Baby Star in bulk, 50 or 100 packs for 80 yen each, and Nomusin Shoten sold them for 100 yen each

-On the other hand, are there any products that didn't sell well?

Unusual drinks tend to go unsold

Maybe I was spacing out during the night shift when I ordered cold miso soup from a can

I bought a case and ended up only selling two cans

They only sold one shortcake drink, so at the end they gave one away for free

We once stocked up on Monster coffee flavor and it sold well, so we added another 150 bottles after that, but half of them remained unsold

Nomushin Shoten's Motivation

-When do you feel glad to be running Nomusin Shoten?

I guess it's when everyone is happy with it

-On the other hand, have you ever felt that it was difficult?

It's hard when there's too much product left over (lol)

This year there are a lot of unsold items in particular, so it may be that we made a mistake in the items we received..

Ramune candy, which is meant to prevent heatstroke, didn't sell either

Also, when we are busy, the arrival of goods stops

Nomushin Shoten during the COVID-19 pandemic

-How have your sales been since you started working from home?

Actually, I haven't counted my sales since the beginning of this year..

If your piggy bank is about to overflow, a member of staff will let you know

Perhaps sales are slowing

However, cup ramen is eaten by people on duty*, so it's not zero

*Currently, only those on duty for server monitoring are in the office

Nomusin Shoten was originally run for people who work the night shift, so I think that's a good thing

They also sell rice that can be heated up in the microwave, but originally I sold it because I wanted to eat rice with tea during my night shifts

-What has allowed you to continue even though sales haven't increased?

I guess it's because I want to see everyone's smiles

In fact, they don't notice the deficit because they don't count sales

Once you count, it's over

Also, receiving new stock helps me relieve stress

When I go shopping I can put everything I want in my basket

Maybe it's an occupational hazard, but when I go to the supermarket to buy food for myself, I also look for things that I can sell at Nomusin Shoten

The future of Nomushin Shoten

-Do you have any plans for the future?

Recently, the number of employees has increased, and it's hard to know who is buying what, so I'd like to start accepting requests for products that people would like to see in stock

I've been getting requests for Coke, but I haven't stocked it because of the diabetes fears

Some people eat the same sweets three times in a row

I don't want people to get sick from the food I've brought in

So I'm thinking about stocking health foods as well

-Finally, what does Nomusin Shoten mean to you?

It's my life

In the future, Nomusin Shoten may become my main business

I will continue to work hard to make a living at Nomusin Shoten Co., Ltd

summary

It turns out that Nomusin Shoten has survived thanks to the innovative strategy of continuing to operate despite continuing to incur losses by not acknowledging that it is in the red

Even during this COVID-19 pandemic, I believe that the company has been able to continue its business without going bankrupt because it has continued to be particular about the products it stocks and to care for its employees

We are extremely grateful to Nomushin for providing Beyond with a better working environment by running his own shop for the past six years without relying on contractors

While working from home, I have had fewer opportunities to visit Nomushin Shoten, so once I am able to return to the office as normal, I would like to contribute even more to sales

It's a way of repaying kindness when you receive it

This concludes the interview with Nomusin Shoten