| 25 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT St Pierre’s Sushi - Head Office T T Virginia Wright Early 90’s trip to Japan inspires A deciding factor in what was a continuing progression towards sushi was Nick’s trip to Japan in 1992. With dozens of shops scattered throughout the cities and provinces of New Zealand there would be few who aren’t aware of St. Pierre’s Sushi even if they haven’t tried it for themselves. This wasn’t always the case though. Nick Katsoulis, one of the three brothers who still run the family-owned business, clearly remembers the origins of this now thriving business, which has its roots in his father’s Cuba Street fish shop in Wellington in the late 70’s. Now, unsurprisingly, home to a St. Pierre’s Sushi. “When my brothers and I took over the business we modernized it and developed it into more of a delicatessen which we developed into selling some Japanese food as a sideline, including sushi, but the sushi didn’t really work so we gave it up after six months,” says Nick. A deciding factor in what was a continuing progression towards sushi was Nick’s trip to Japan in 1992 which began his relationship with his mentor Yoshiharu Takagi and the company that still delivers all the key ingredients such as dashi, ginger and wasabi, that are now so familiar. “He worked for an export company so he understood the growth of Japanese food in the US which was probably about 15 years ahead of New Zealand at the time,” says Nick. When the Katsoulis brothers decided in the early 90’s to really give St. Pierre’s Sushi a go it was in the 277 Mall in Newmarket, Auckland (now Westfield), and included a trestle table in front of the shop where everyone could see sushi rolls being made as they walked past. “People would walk past and go ‘sushi? Raw fish…yuk’, and walk away,” says Nick with a laugh. ‘But we still grew through word of mouth, slowly but surely, so we decided to try another shopping mall.” Having their first few shops in city malls, all of which began with a demonstration table PROUDLY SUPPORTING ST PIERRE’S SUSHI - HEAD OFFICE WITH ALL THEIR REFRIGERATION AND HVAC NEEDS AIR CONDITIONING AND REFRIGERATION SPECIALISTS 06 833 8595 INFO@SUPERCHILL.CO.NZ SUPERCHILL GISBORNE 211 STANLEY RD, GISBORNE SUPERCHILL NAPIER 8 ANGUS PLACE, ONEKAWA, NAPIER SUPERCHILL TAUPO 59 BROADLANDS RD, TAUPO 843 43 41 0274 445 787 bren@hbdoors.nz H•A•W•K•E•S B•A•Y The home of Well Hung doors • Specialised Cavity Sliders • Prehung Doors • Full Height Sliding • Mirror Doors • Hardware • Fire Doors • Trans-Space Doors • Soundstop Doors • Insurance Jobs • Free Quotes and Local Delivery T Tto page 26
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