Parent company of Japanese ramen restaurants hires new VP of franchise sales, plans to open 15 domestic and international locations, and set to celebrate 40th JINYA Ramen Bar opening in 2021
After a year that tested the limits of the restaurant industry, JINYA Holdings, Inc. has proven its brands are well positioned to spur tremendous growth nationwide.
In 2020, JINYA Holdings – which operates bushi by JINYA, JINYA Ramen Bar, JINYA Ramen Express and Robata JINYA – added six new locations to its portfolio. JINYA Ramen Bar opened four locations in Denver, Colorado; Athens, Georgia; Henderson, Nevada; and Reston, Virginia. JINYA Holdings also debuted an all-new concept – bushi by JINYA – which now has two locations in Los Angeles.
bushi by JINYA first opened in early 2018 as a full-service, sit-down restaurant, but once the pandemic forced mandatory dining room closures, JINYA Holdings re-evaluated the brand and pivoted its business model. In August, bushi by JINYA reopened as a pickup- and delivery-only concept with a tech-forward approach to align with the new consumer environment. By decreasing labor costs, optimizing new technology and adopting a smaller menu, bushi by JINYA re-established itself to thrive in the delivery and to-go space. Now, JINYA Holdings plans to franchise the concept.
“Even though 2020 presented all sorts of challenges for the industry, we put our heads together and came up with creative new ways to set our brands up for success,” said JINYA Holdings, Inc. Founder and CEO Tomo Takahashi. “I’m very proud of what our team was able to do during this difficult time. Especially with bushi – we took the pandemic as an opportunity to reinvent bushi and its strategic growth. Now, bushi joins our other concepts in safely and conveniently serving authentic Japanese cuisine.”
In addition to opening locations, JINYA Holdings signed on five new franchisees to add 14 restaurants to its pipeline in 2020. This year, the company is slated to open a total of 15 domestic and international restaurants throughout Arizona, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Vancouver, Canada. JINYA Holdings is also set to celebrate the opening of its 40th location of JINYA Ramen Bar.
To further expand its brands, the parent company recently hired Mike LaRue as its new vice president of franchise sales. At JINYA Holdings, LaRue is responsible for leading and directing strategy on all aspects of franchise development, including new sales, lead generation, franchise recruiting and owner approvals.
“Our company is ready to launch incredible growth across the globe,” Takahashi said. “We have plans to expand two of our concepts, JINYA Ramen Bar and bushi by JINYA, through franchising, and we’re thrilled to have Mike on the team to lead the charge. JINYA Ramen Bar was the only ramen concept to be ranked on Entrepreneur’s ‘2021 Top Franchise 500,’ so we know we have something special to offer guests around the world. We can’t wait to see what’s to come in the rest of 2021.”
To learn more about JINYA Holdings, visit jinyaholdings.com. For more information about franchise opportunities, visit jinyaramenbar.com or contact LaRue at mlarue@jinyaholdings.com.
