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Post by James Fujita on Oct 9, 2010 22:10:26 GMT -8
I don't think we have to be that harsh.
First of all, the Famima!! is near the entrance to the Red Line, but it is not actually inside the subway station proper. It is inside Union Station, and it is equally convenient to Amtrak passengers, Metrolink, light rail and subway commuters. So, one approach would be to allow certain types of vendors at stations but not inside the faregates — make sure that there is always a barrier between "food allowed" and "food not allowed". If a Century City station included pedestrian tunnels to nearby buildings, for example, you could have Famima!! or Peet's or whatever near the entrance/ exit. Underground malls are another example.
In Tokyo, they have newspaper stands ON THE PLATFORM. This may be a cultural difference. Tokyo subway riders read manga, and that is less messy than broadsheet newspapers. (Harder to tear apart, easier to read.)
Another possibility would be to have subway station attendants at all stations. These would be a combination of security officer, information desk attendant and anti-littering patrol, although I would demand avoiding the Singaporean extreme. There must be a happy medium somewhere.
Either way, I'm looking forward to the Famima!! option at Union Station, either for a snack to eat at the train station, or for something to take back with me.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Oct 10, 2010 9:58:53 GMT -8
Thanks for the update James. Famima isn't really my thing, but good for them for taking the risk and for providing a much needed option for commuters. I think that they, and especially Subway, will do a decent amount of business.
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Post by metrocenter on Oct 10, 2010 12:03:59 GMT -8
San Francisco used to have a newspaper man in the subways. Then the Examiner went under and he disappeared. A cool thing about Famima! is, they have a pretty good selection of magazines for reading on the train, and some decent take-away food (like sushi) you can bring home with you. Even selling snacks makes sense, because half the people there are leaving the train station. But yes James, there are several Famima! stores very close to that station. Heck I'd be happy with a newsstand. www.eyemaze.net/blog/uploaded_images/59thStNews-723703.jpg
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 10, 2010 15:51:42 GMT -8
dude's giving you the "you gonna buy something or what?" stare ;D Famima!! does have a lot of cool stuff, and the Union Station Famima!! looks to have about the same selection of stuff as most of the stores that I've seen, so I'm guessing that at least some of their traffic will be people buying stuff to take with them, not necessarily snacks to eat there. I'm sure they'll get plenty of "eat while I wait for a train" traffic as well, but in my experience, sushi and bentos tend to be slightly less messy than some fast foods. I know I'll be buying my "last minute Pocky" and Japanese snacks to take back with me I forgot to mention the nice-looking magazine rack at Famima!! In Japan, Family Mart would have signs that said "buy the manga before reading it, baka otaku" (or something like that, translated) and you would still see guys hanging out and reading manga and magazines ;D You don't see that as often here. With a newsstand, you wouldn't have that problem (or opportunity?) Of course, the slob factor is always a concern, but at the same time, a news vendor or something would be nice in the stations.
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snuffy
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Post by snuffy on Oct 11, 2010 20:37:07 GMT -8
I was there on 10/9/10 and It looks like a grand opening of the store very soon.
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Post by jeisenbe on Oct 11, 2010 21:48:01 GMT -8
They guys putting up the Famima sign in the passageway said the store would be opening either tomorrow or Thursday, when I was there on Friday.
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 12, 2010 11:34:52 GMT -8
I was there on Saturday and the signs definitely said open Tuesday. I was back on Monday (around about 2:30 or so) and it looked like they were doing training. Several "Coming Soon" signs were up. I thought the banner in the pedestrian tunnel looked good, although it's funny that you can see the Famima!! entrance from the banner. I also took video: Click HereI'm not sure if I will take more photos or not when it is actually open. "Buying Pocky at Famima!!" "Paying for osembei and Pocky at Famima!!" The place is definitely attracting attention — people are looking in through the window, wondering when it will open, looking at the snacks and goodies, and I heard a woman say "ooh, they have shrimp chips!"
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Post by spokker on Oct 12, 2010 12:35:31 GMT -8
Pocky is very, very popular with middle-aged government workers that commute on the train.
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 12, 2010 13:37:33 GMT -8
Pocky is very, very popular with middle-aged government workers that commute on the train. Didn't know about the middle-aged workers. Do know that Pocky is popular with: Gen Y, Asians and otaku ;D And Famima!!'s demographics aim trendy. However, the people who were looking in the window were a typical cross-section of Los Angeles. As diverse as the people you see on the Red Line.
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Post by jamesinclair on Oct 12, 2010 14:54:00 GMT -8
I hope they sell water for cheaper than the other place in the waiting area.
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Post by spokker on Oct 12, 2010 17:30:17 GMT -8
Red Line riders are pretty much irrelevant here. You can't take food on Metro Rail and the Red and Gold Line have reasonable frequencies. I believe most of Famima's business will come from Amtrak and Metrolink riders. More likely to see people who have time to kill and you can take your wares on those trains.
The cafe at Fullerton Station advertises the fact that you can take food onto Amtrak and Metrolink.
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 12, 2010 18:27:34 GMT -8
True, you can't take open containers onto Metro Rail. You can't eat on the Metro Red Line.
But you CAN take boxes, cans, unopened bags, etc. onto the subway. I've taken takeout boxes on the subway, but I've never eaten on the train.
Famima!! would be following roughly the same business plan as Family Mart in Japan, where people buy stuff to take home (same subway rules as here). Of course, Family Mart in Japan is as prolific as Starbucks in the U.S., so people over there are more likely to get that stuff as they leave the station.
A lot of Famima!!'s traffic will be Metrolink, but they will pull people from the Red Line as well.
[ EDIT: I might add that Famima!!'s reputation as a trendy, Asian-themed, Japanese-flavored convenience store was well established in Los Angeles long before construction began. Both Catellus and FamilyMart must have felt that busy Union Station was a good match for the popular retail chain. ]
Either way, I suspect Famima!! will do quite well at Union Station.
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snuffy
Junior Member
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Post by snuffy on Oct 14, 2010 0:32:38 GMT -8
I was there yesterday. It's nice to see something new at the station but Famima is overpriced. That's why they had to close so many stores throughout L.A. I think they will do well at the station because everything is overpriced there. I love "Pocky" (and Caramel Corn) and so as other Japanese sweet snacks. btw, I used to go to Familymart in Japan and the price was not bad was here in the US.
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 18, 2010 15:04:00 GMT -8
It would be interesting to do a price comparison between Japan and the U.S. On the one hand, Japan is an expensive country (especially areas like Tokyo). Family Mart is cheap by Japan standards, but even McDonald's costs more in Japan than in the U.S., especially when you factor in exchange rates. The yen-to-the-dollar exchange rate is horrible. A bigger question is importing. There's no Pocky factory in the United States; it all gets imported from Japan, so there's all sorts of costs involved with that. So when it comes to Pocky, osembei, bottled tea, etc. the real competition for Famima!! is going to be Nijiya, Mitsuwa, Marukai and other Japanese import markets. [ * You can get the basic chocolate flavor at lots of places, but you can't get "Men's Pocky" bitter dark chocolate flavor just anywhere ] Famima!!, like Fresh & Easy, had the bad luck to attempt expansion in a recession. Frankly, I think the Torrance store was in a hard-to-reach location, and much too close to other Japanese stores. Regrettably, my work schedule prevents me from visiting Union Station just quite yet, so I can't comment on the prices too much. However, I personally never thought Famima!!'s other stores were that expensive, at least not by Japanese import prices. Ultimately, I think Famima!! will do well because the convenience of being right there will trump whatever price advantage other stores might have. [ Can't take the Gold Line to Little Tokyo if I'm on a tight schedule ;D ] My first commemorative Famima!! Union Station purchase will probably be in a couple of weeks... ;D
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 18, 2010 15:43:49 GMT -8
Famima!! initially opened in downtown LA and in other outlying districts or cities. After a year or two of operations, Famima!! found that the walk-up / urban stores were doing significantly well, while the car-oriented strip mall stores were performing poorly. So, Famima!! made the rash decision to close the strip mall stores and focus primarily on dense areas in urban settings. Downtown LA has 5 stores now to boot (7th, Wilshire, 6th, Bunker Hill and now Union Station). Whereas Famima!! was seen as a failure elsewhere (they closed stores very fast in some locations), it is a success in downtown LA.
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 19, 2010 12:16:02 GMT -8
L.A.ofAnaheim gives a pretty good history of the chain, although the "walking good, driving bad" explanation, while it explains a lot, doesn't quite explain everything. For example, the Santa Anita Mall location remains open while the Old Pasadena branch and the Belmont Shore branches failed. Obviously, other economic factors were at play. They say "When in Rome..." In Tokyo, you build next to subway stations. In Los Angeles....? That said, the Torrance location really was stupid. It was near Del Amo, and the traffic there is horrible. And paradoxically, Torrance's large Asian population may have hurt Famima!! because other Asian chains reached the area first. As the economy improves, Famima!! may find that it wants back in some of these communities that it previously abandoned (with some changes, obviously... how about walkable Old Torrance near Honda instead of Del Amo?) Toward this end, the Union Station store may be the most brilliant thing they've done yet. After all, their customers will be coming in from outside downtown (unless they live at Mozaic), and returning home with a taste of Famima!! in their mouths, or at least in shopping bags.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Oct 19, 2010 16:04:43 GMT -8
I agree that the LAUS location was a very good choice. I sometimes here Amtrak passengers complain about food options while they are waiting. Hopefully they'll open up additional transit adjacent locations to go along with the ones that they already have.
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 19, 2010 21:19:21 GMT -8
I agree that the LAUS location was a very good choice. I sometimes here Amtrak passengers complain about food options while they are waiting. Hopefully they'll open up additional transit adjacent locations to go along with the ones that they already have. Who knows, it may be something that Famima!! might want to consider. After all, they are a Japanese chain. Of course, they would only do that if the current Union Station store were a winner. So be sure to buy out the store's supplies ;D Today's Transit Coalition newsletter sort of jokingly called Famima!! at Union Station "one of the greatest transportation developments of the year." I don't know about that (okay, maybe I was a tad gung ho about Famima!!'s arrival), but I do think that the link between retail and transit is definitely something very important. Think of it as keeping up with all of the drive-thrus and auto-oriented shopping you can do. So now, the question is, which Metrolink or Metro Rail station ought to have Famima!! next.... hmmm....
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Post by Transit Coalition on Oct 19, 2010 23:20:06 GMT -8
I agree that the LAUS location was a very good choice. I sometimes here Amtrak passengers complain about food options while they are waiting. Hopefully they'll open up additional transit adjacent locations to go along with the ones that they already have. Who knows, it may be something that Famima!! might want to consider. After all, they are a Japanese chain. Of course, they would only do that if the current Union Station store were a winner. So be sure to buy out the store's supplies ;D Today's Transit Coalition newsletter sort of jokingly called Famima!! at Union Station "one of the greatest transportation developments of the year." I don't know about that (okay, maybe I was a tad gung ho about Famima!!'s arrival), but I do think that the link between retail and transit is definitely something very important. Think of it as keeping up with all of the drive-thrus and auto-oriented shopping you can do. So now, the question is, which Metrolink or Metro Rail station ought to have Famima!! next.... hmmm.... The mention Numan made about Famima!! might have been understated, but Famima!! as a supplier of products at good value and a decent selection makes Union Station all the more livable. I can tell you that Union Bagel and everything else is closed by 8:30 p.m. and I have seen many people looking to buy something, anything and there is nothing. Being open 365/24/7 is a major development and a service to rail riders. And definitely a development of the year and of no question quite important.
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 20, 2010 6:56:46 GMT -8
Today's Transit Coalition newsletter sort of jokingly called Famima!! at Union Station "one of the greatest transportation developments of the year." I don't know about that (okay, maybe I was a tad gung ho about Famima!!'s arrival), but I do think that the link between retail and transit is definitely something very important. Think of it as keeping up with all of the drive-thrus and auto-oriented shopping you can do. So now, the question is, which Metrolink or Metro Rail station ought to have Famima!! next.... hmmm.... I would agree with Bart. I volunteer at Union Station and people generally do not like the Union Bagel choices on the weekend; so some make the trek out to Olvera street, Subway, or Philippe's. Famima!! is a milestone for Union Station in 2010! Next station...easy....7th street station. Thereafter, I would go with Pershing Square station.
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 20, 2010 13:28:54 GMT -8
The mention Numan made about Famima!! might have been understated, but Famima!! as a supplier of products at good value and a decent selection makes Union Station all the more livable. I can tell you that Union Bagel and everything else is closed by 8:30 p.m. and I have seen many people looking to buy something, anything and there is nothing. Being open 365/24/7 is a major development and a service to rail riders. And definitely a development of the year and of no question quite important. Wow, okay, so I stand corrected — you weren't joking. Thanks, Bart. This is big news for me personally, because I don't always have time to go to Little Tokyo but I do always seem to end up at Union Station whenever I go traveling. However, I wasn't sure how the rest of the transit nerds felt about this development. That late-night thing is an interesting point. This summer, I remember some of the late-night Anime Expo attendees were making the Red Line to Gold Line or Red Line to Metrolink connection at Union Station after dark (with me as impromptu transit guide) and we would have definitely gone on a late-night Famima!! snack raid if it had been open. [ Actually, being anime fans, they would have appreciated Famima!! at noon as well.. but I digress ] I would love to see Famima!! become a snack supplier at just about any Metro Rail or Metrolink station. Subway stations would be trickier than Metrolink train station Famima!! (either taking up existing space or digging a new tunnel) but it can be done: FamilyMart just to the right of the subway fare gates in Osaka
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Post by bluelineshawn on Oct 31, 2010 16:14:07 GMT -8
I finally made it over to Famima at LAUS and I was impressed! It's smaller than the other locations that I've been to but it's also busier. There was a steady stream of people in and out and at 9am on a Sunday morning they had a 4-person crew working. Maybe it was shift change, but still it was good to see. It looked like mostly Amtrak riders and the prepared foods (both hot and cold) looked to be the most popular. On the downside I noticed one of the crew removing the expired foods and from what I saw it was quite a few. They must not be moving quite as fast as anticipated. I didn't know what anything was, but thanks to the discussion here I bought some pocky. Haven't tried it yet though.
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Post by James Fujita on Nov 1, 2010 1:10:12 GMT -8
I finally made it over to Famima at LAUS and I was impressed! It's smaller than the other locations that I've been to but it's also busier. There was a steady stream of people in and out and at 9am on a Sunday morning they had a 4-person crew working. Maybe it was shift change, but still it was good to see. It looked like mostly Amtrak riders and the prepared foods (both hot and cold) looked to be the most popular. On the downside I noticed one of the crew removing the expired foods and from what I saw it was quite a few. They must not be moving quite as fast as anticipated. I didn't know what anything was, but thanks to the discussion here I bought some pocky. Haven't tried it yet though. Ha ha! So my Pocky evangelism is paying off ;D It's ironic that I haven't had the time to visit the LAUS store yet. I should get my chance this weekend....
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Post by James Fujita on Nov 6, 2010 19:20:26 GMT -8
^_^ Made my first purchases at Union Station Famima!! today. Pocky and bottled tea. Subway and Wetzel's doesn't appear to have made much progress, but Famima!! has a lot of ads outside the store. Doing pretty good traffic, too.
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Post by James Fujita on Nov 16, 2010 12:00:21 GMT -8
Update: For those who aren't interested in char siu bao, sushi, bentos and Pocky, Wetzel's Pretzels is now open at Union Station. They seemed to be doing good business, and Famima!! is still quite popular... Subway seems to have hit a snag or something... no progress on their store... I took some photos and will upload them as soon as I'm done with Maui trip photos
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dane
Junior Member
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Post by dane on Nov 16, 2010 12:14:36 GMT -8
I don't have any pictures, but Wetzel's was up and running today. They seemed to have a decent line of customers, considering I passed by at 8:00am! Hmmmm...pretzels, the breakfast of champions - they stay crunchy! even in milk!
;D
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andop2
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by andop2 on Nov 16, 2010 13:04:22 GMT -8
Subway seems to have hit a snag or something... no progress on their store... I can't help but note the irony. Maybe MRT is involved in this.... Perhaps "Subway" was planning on introducing a new "Farmdale" sandwich, and had to prepare a new EIR.... Or maybe a new Inspector General was needed to assure all the children were getting balanced, nutritious meals....
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Post by James Fujita on Nov 19, 2010 20:21:50 GMT -8
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Post by spokker on Nov 20, 2010 22:48:20 GMT -8
We went to go see Harry Potter at Arclight today and we stopped by Famima. I must say, it was pretty busy on a Saturday morning around 11AM. There were three cashiers and they were all going full steam.
Of course, we couldn't eat any of the things we purchased until we got to Hollywood and Vine...
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Post by James Fujita on Dec 4, 2010 23:32:16 GMT -8
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