I put together this case study to demonstrate to Nearby leadership what Shop Profiles could look like for Nearby – with shoppable
products embedded. (Answers below are pulled from other interviews or made up.)
Umami Mart
A Japanese bar and drinkware shop
4027 Broadway
Temescal, Oakland
510.250.9559
Walking into Umami Mart is like walking into a gallery in Tokyo, if the owner were obsessed with well-designed food and drinkware. Aspiring bartenders and chefs flock here for a slew of curated finds, hand picked from the owners’ frequent travels to Japan. Part tasting room, part bottle shop, and part food purveyor, Umami Mart is bound to get you in touch with your inner Japanophile (just try the green tea kit kats to see what we mean).
Meet the shop owners, Kayoko and Yoko:
What was your vision when you started Umami Mart?
Umami Mart started out as a casual food blog in 2007. I was living in Brooklyn and Yoko was living in Tokyo, and we were sharing our restaurant experiences and recipes. Yoko and I both moved back to the Bay Area in 2010 and started selling some housewares on the website. In the beginning we were selling just five items and one was a cocktail mixing glass that became a huge hit. From there we decided to sell more and more barware. That same year we opened the brick-and-mortar shop as part of a six-month experiment with Popuphood, an initiative in Old Oakland to bring independent retailers to the neighborhood.
How has it evolved since then?
In so many ways! Now we have a tasting room with a proper bar, a much bigger selection from all of our adventures, and we host a bunch of food pop-ups. It’s become its own little community.
What you might find in the shop:
Niche whiskeys, spherical ice cube trays, a soy sauce tasting bar, yuzu salt, green tea kit kats – and that’s just to start.
What are your top 3 favorite products in the shop?
When we opened the store, we launched with a travel mug that has all of these little doodles on it. It really is the spirit of Umami Mart. Anders Arhoj, a design director from Copenhagen, designed the cup and then he ended up designing the entire shop.
I love the Sori Yanagi kettle. It’s just a really well designed product. Even though it’s one of the higher priced products in the store, I recommend it to customers all the time. Because it’s got a wide base, it heats up the water faster and it’s really light.
We have a mixing glass pitcher protector that a couple of guys from a bar in SF called Rye designed. It’s a carrying case for the mixing glass and it has been a really good seller with bartenders. They were carrying around their mixing glasses in their bags to go to work and they were always breaking, so they created this protector.
Who would you most like to visit the shop?
Bill Murray! He really knows his whisky.
Why Temescal?
Temescal is where it’s at! There are so many rare independent businesses here, we feel right at home.
Why Oakland?
Oakland reminds me a lot of Brooklyn, specifically Williamsburg 12 to 15 years ago. It’s really friendly for burgeoning small businesses. There’s also a great art scene.
Your top 3 places in Temescal:
Marufuku for a legit bowl of ramen, the Ali Golden Shop for raw silk jumpers, and Baggu for sleek totes.
What’s happening at the shop (once the world returns to normal)?
Come on down to our tasting room! We’ve got beer and sake on tap, plus lots of snacks, and you can try Den Saki Ori – our collaboration with Oakland’s own Den Sake. We regularly host pop-up bentos of Casa de Kei, with some pretty tasty softshell crab sandwiches. Keep an eye out for future events here.
How can we support you?
Join Sake Gumi, our monthly sake subscription service, or Shochu Gumi, our quarterly shochu subscription service (we say schochu’s the next whisky).
What’s typically playing in the shop?
Check out our Summer playlist!
Your favorite quote:
“If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets.” – Haruki Murakami