While there are definitive household-name brands for various foods, such as hamburgers, fried chicken, and pizza, there is no nationally recognized sushi brand in the US. There are two ways people get sushi – either from high-end restaurants or from local “mom and pop” establishments, which make up the majority of sushi places in the country.
High-end places provide a noteworthy experience, but they are expensive and not fast and convenient, making them unsuitable for everyday dining. On the other extreme, the “mom and pop” joints are fast and affordable, but the sushi is made from lower quality ingredients and is often pre-packaged, putting freshness into question.
The current state of sushi in the US has a huge hole in the middle – a fast casual restaurant that is a household name, offering high-quality sushi, as well as an ambiance of style, comfort, and convenience. This is where Wabii Sushi comes in, catering to sushi lovers on the move all across the US.
Wabii Sushi was founded by Chiya Yosopov and Andrew Gelfand in early 2023. Yosopov, who has always been passionate about sushi, was only 17 years old when he opened his first sushi restaurant, Noribar, located in Brooklyn, New York. This venture was an immediate success, with sales quadruple its initial targets, resulting in hundreds of customers lining up daily and numerous positive reviews of its food. In the face of growing demand, Noribar acquired the next door commercial space to expand its kitchen, and eventually opened a second location in Brooklyn.
Yosopov brings his knowledge about sushi and experience running restaurants and combines it with Gelfand’s more than 25 years of experience in building businesses from the ground up. Gelfand has operated successful franchise businesses in the health spa and mobile phones markets. He also founded AG Worldwide, which has 30 event marketing offices throughout Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the UK.
According to Yosopov, Wabii Sushi will bring an assortment of authentic Japanese sushi dishes to the American public. By focusing solely on serving high-quality sushi, it will strengthen the association between sushi and the Wabii brand.
Aside from catering to the pick-up and delivery markets, Wabii Sushi’s sushi bars will have a comfortable and inviting atmosphere, providing an unforgettable dining experience. Over the next few years, Wabii Sushi plans to expand to 250 locations with around 2,000 employees, resulting in annual revenues of $375 million. Through a franchising model, it eventually aims to reach 1,000 restaurants across the US, capturing a 25% market share.
In the first phase of its expansion, Wabii Sushi is targeting several major cities across the US, such as NYC, Atlanta, Orlando, Austin, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, and Nashville. It will also partner with cloud kitchens to harness the food delivery app market and grow awareness of its brand in areas not serviceable by its locations. This phase will be characterized by growing Wabii Sushi’s corporate team and aggressively developing its anchor locations in the above mentioned key markets. At present, Wabii Sushi is looking to work together with investors and industry partners to reach these goals.
“Having been in the restaurant industry since a young age, I noticed that, while almost everyone knows what sushi is, there is not a single sushi brand that has captured the public’s imagination,” Yosopov says. “We at Wabii Sushi want to become a household brand – the first that comes to mind when people think about sushi. To achieve this, we seek to provide customers with consistently delicious sushi dishes and become known for cleanliness, freshness, and affordability – qualities that are in short supply in the sushi market today.”
Media contact:
Name: Chiya Yosopov
Email: [email protected]
