LIQUOR MUSEUM: Aiming for 1,000 bars nationwide through franchising! -Part 1-

LIQUOR MUSEUM is a bar with 87 locations nationwide. Located in convenience stores, train stations, airports, and other locations, they are developing a new demographic with their surprisingly reasonable prices of 500 yen and up per drink with no charge.

writer：Ryoko Kuraishi

Takashi Osada, Director and General Manager of Business Management Division of NBG Co.

LIQUOR MUSEUM opened in Karasuma Sanjo, Kyoto, in 2017.

In just seven years since the opening of its first store, it has expanded to 87 stores nationwide (as of March 2024) and is increasing its presence.

The distinctive features of LIQUOR MUSEUM are its wide selection of whiskey and its free service with prices starting at 500 yen per glass.

In particular, the lineup of rare old bottles of Japanese whiskey and Scotch whiskey, which are no longer sold or have been discontinued, is remarkable.

Recently, the company has been expanding into locations that are easily accessible to people who have never had the opportunity to visit a bar before, such as stores attached to convenience stores and stores inside train stations and airports.

The store is located inside Kintetsu Namba Station. The store inside the ticket gates is built without doors, making it tempting to wander in while on the move. It also seems to function as a meeting place.

Takashi Nagata, director and general manager of business operations at NBG Inc. which operates the LIQUOR MUSEUM franchise, says, "We are developing the franchise with the philosophy of 'bringing bar culture to every scene.

"Since we purchase old bottles in a special way in our other business, we set up our first store in 2017 in order to create a place where many people can enjoy such quality sake.

The Karasuma Sanjo location is our flagship store, so it has a floor space of 50 tsubo (860 square meters) and serves a full range of food, but from the beginning, our strategy was to be the first "bar franchise" in Japan.

From the third store onward, we followed this strategy,

A street-front location that is easily visible and easy to enter. Open at 3:00 p.m. to accommodate a wide range of customers. The restaurant is 8 tsubo in size, which can be operated by a single operator, and is whiskey oriented.

The store is being developed in this style.

A bar appears on the Shinkansen "Nozomi"!! A "special off-line" pop-up bar event, LIQUOR MUSEUM pop-up bar event, was held by renting out an entire Shinkansen train car. It opened for only 2 hours and 12 minutes between Tokyo and Kyoto stations.

Many franchise owners have no experience in the restaurant industry.

These strategies are aimed at a segment of the population that has not previously used bars. In addition, many of the franchise owners are also beginners in the restaurant industry.

Many (90%!) of the current owners have no experience in the restaurant industry. have no experience in the restaurant industry.

Forty-two percent of the franchisees are company employees who invest in the business as a sideline, or sole proprietors who have left the workforce to start their own businesses as owner-operators.

The "one-operator turnaround" style makes it easier for these owners to enter the market.

We are also seeing an increase in the number of corporations and foreigners, mainly Asians, who are taking on this business as a new venture.

Meanwhile, the back bar is stocked with bottles that will make connoisseurs swoon.

Thus, the decision to make the content whiskey-centered makes sense from the standpoint of securing human resources. Providing cocktails requires a high level of skill on the part of the provider. The hurdles for newcomers to the market are suddenly high.

When a new restaurant opens, we provide full support in deciding on the property and bottle lineup.

As for the bottle lineup, we want to have as many different kinds of bottles as possible, so we aim to have more than 250 kinds and 350 bottles.

Of course, the bottle lineup will change as the owners' personalities emerge over the course of the operation, but we think that is part of the fun of franchising.

Here's the ticket for the "special offline meeting." No way, there is a note saying "All seats are open to drinking!

How "A Convenience Store with Bar" was born.

When one thinks of LIQUOR MUSEUM, many people think of the unique convenience store attached to it, the "a convenience store with bar".

This style, which can be found in some foreign cities, was actually created by accident.

The owner of a convenience store franchise in front of Hakata Station asked us if we would be interested in introducing LIQUOR MUSEUM when he renovated his store.

We started with a casual, 'It would be fun to have a bar inside a convenience store,' and it turned out to be a great idea.

This was the first attempt in Japan to operate an eat-in space inside a convenience store as a standing bar.

The response to this was more than we had imagined. The reason for the success is the gap created by the massive interior, the authentic back bar, and the mood of the convenience store, which sets it apart from a corner bar.

The atmosphere of a convenience store is casual, yet you can enjoy the situation of drinking at a full-fledged bar.

Food can be brought in from the convenience store, and only alcohol is served at the bar. When we actually started operating, we saw a synergistic effect in terms of increased sales of snacks.

オールドボトルの品揃えは業界トップクラス。

One of the best selection of old bottles in the industry

A bar for every aspect of life!

In recent years, an increasing number of stores have been opened in train stations and airport facilities.

The opening of a store in Kintetsu Namba Station in April 2009 was met with a great response. In March of last year, we opened a store in Kumamoto Airport, and in February of this year, we opened a store in Nagasaki Airport.

The store's location on the transportation infrastructure is directly related to our concept of 'lifestyle scenes.

We see this as a good opportunity to appeal not only to local customers, but also to those who use train stations and airports for sightseeing, business trips, and returning home.

In March of this year, we finally opened a bar inside a Shinkansen train!

A Nozomi train car was rented out to house a bar counter, and a pop-up bar was opened for only 2 hours and 12 minutes between Tokyo and Kyoto stations.

LIQUOR MUSEUM continues to expand with the unique strategy of ....... The goal is to have 1,000 stores by 2030.

The goal is to open 1,000 stores by 2030. "If you think of coffee chains, Doutor has 1,280 stores and Starbucks 1,880 stores. We believe that we need to have this number of stores in order to be 'closely connected to people's daily lives.

Of course, we are not competing for the number of stores.

We want to convey the appeal of Japan's pride in quality sake to a large number of people who can enjoy it casually. The goal of LIQUOR MUSEUM by attracting the light class is to broaden the base of the bar scene.

We hope that LIQUOR MUSEUM will serve as a gateway to cocktail bars and authentic bars, thereby fostering an open bar culture.

In the second part of this article, we will introduce the private brand launched by LIQUOR MUSEUM!


Continue to Part 2.