Benihana Case Study

Recommendation

Analysis of Benihana shows that the following actions should be taken in order to increase the markets and demographics which they can cater to:

• Restructuring the restaurant flow as follows:ed

o Changeing the seating setup so that more seats surround a cooking area which can serve multiple groups at one time so that the chef’s downtime is kept to a minimum.

o Have multiple cooks behind each cooking area so that patrons have quick service and turnover time is kept low.

• Change marketing strategies to all age groups, emphasizing the excitement and swiftness that Benihana delivers.

Problem

Currently, management feels constricted in expanding into second-tier cities due to the substantial minimum costs associated with opening a new location. The current operations structure of Benihana of Tokyo make it very difficult for the company to expand into smaller markets at which they would serve smaller and less predictable groups. In addition to not being able to expand into smaller markets, Benihana is finding it fairly difficult to attract the a younger generation into their restaurant. The current work flow at Benihana requires that a group of seven to eight people are seated at a table before cooking can even begin. This setup creates a wait for people who come in as smaller size groups, which in return can cause a much slower turn over. Every seat at the hibachi table is potential revenue and when those seats are vacant the restaurant will lose money. The current setup of the restaurant does not accommodate the unpredictable influx of patrons. In a busy downtown scenario where patrons are constantly flowing in the door, it is easy to have them wait five to ten minutes until the right combination can fill a hibachi table.; Uunfortunately, this is not the case in a smaller market, wherebyand wait times would drastically increase or seats would go unfilled due to smaller traffic. In addition to not having the setup to cater to small, unpredictable groups, Benihana is having a hard time attracting athe younger clientelegeneration. This market segmentgroupgeneration can drastically increase business, and not being ablethe inability to persuade them to come to Benihana is lost revenue.

Implementation

In order to move into smaller markets a redesign of the restaurant is necessary to tolerate the unpredictable influx of patrons. Current design shown in Exhibit 1 shows how that when smaller groups of three to five people come in, it can leave seats difficult to fill or unoccupied unless the perfect size group also comes in at the same time. With the new setup, also shown in Exhibit 1, multiple groups of different sizes can come in and still