Yoshinoya to introduce the Y=300 small gyudon

Sankei News reports that gyudon chain Yoshinoya is planning a smaller-sized beef bowl in order to open up a market for female customers. The new 'ko-mori' (小盛り) size will be two-thirds of the standard 'nami' (並) portion and go for around ¥300.

This move is also believed to help Yoshinoya bring back customers who have fled to cheaper gyudon spots like Matsuya and Sukiya. The regular-sized gyudon at Sukiya is only ¥280, whereas the 'gyumeshi' at Matsuya is ¥320. Compared to these places, Yoshinoya's basic 'nami' size is a whopping ¥380 -- clearly only affordable by ancestral descendants of lords and barons, and perhaps, auxiliary members of the Imperial family.

The 'sho-mori' small size may be a good way to cut prices even further without looking desperate, but regardless, Yoshinoya needs to help on the female customers front. There are almost as many women eating at the counters of the standard Yoshinoya as there are hauling beams on a construction site. When a woman enters a Yoshinoya, the entire restaurant turns to look, only to be relieved that she is heading straight to the 'take out' line. Crisis averted.

Will the 'ko-mori' Yoshinoya gyudon help the company bounce back from a 17.2% store-on-store loss in revenues for February? Maybe, but the outlook is bleak when the recipe for success is giving customers even less of your product.