Modern Japanese Cuisine - Seattle
On a shoe-string budget, we targeted an existing business with an affordable rent and made surface renovations so as not to require extensive permitting and enable a quick opening. Timing the market just right, local businesses in the area were just starting to turn a profit. Our low cost renovation took a few months and necessitated a hands-on approach. Signage, lighting and bold colors brought gave an otherwise nondescript hole-in-the-wall a strong street presence.
Concept
Along with the graphics we wanted to bring the eye to key elements in the branding of the store. Attention to the pastry in the case from the street. Encourage daytime purchases of pastries and give an urban bar like vibe at night. Re-purpose items such as furniture and increase seating in the process was important due to budget and viability. We wanted the restaurant to be noticed and for the light to spill onto the street. In Seattle, channel / neon lighting is both necessary and expensive, so we installed ourselves. Aside from the crisp elements of the store we wanted a calm feel and the birch cabinet grade plywood really set the stage.
Before + During
Our work included procuring the site, testing, getting applicable permits, establishing temp power and demoing the existing structure so that our Builder buyer could hit the ground running. Significant savings to our loan payments were due to negotiating closing date extensions while we designed and permitted the project.
