Japanese Knives Upcoming New Store Location

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JBroida

KKF Vendor
Founding Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
6,800
Reaction score
1,733
Location
Beverly Hills, CA
Some of you may already know about this, but, as we havent mentioned much about this publicly, many of you may not. In 2010, we began as an online only business (with an office space to receive packages in Beverly Hills), but rather quickly decided that we needed a storefront here, as up to that point, customers would just come over to our house to check out products if they wanted to see things in person. In 2011, we finally found a place that we liked, and opened our store in Venice, CA, just a couple blocks from the beach.

Those of you who have been to our store know that it is a tiny place... a few display cases of knives, our desk, and the sharpening area, plus some storage scattered about. A while back, we realized that we had outgrown our space, so we started looking around for larger spaces. We searched high and low in the area around our current store, but couldn't find anything. So, we started looking in other areas.

In August of last year, we finally found a space that we really liked (right size, good parking, great location, etc.), and we began construction early this year. We're still a little ways off from the move, but we expect to make the move sometime towards the end of next month. When we make the move, we will likely shut down for a few days during the moving process, so we will give you guys a heads up when that will be happening.

As the time gets closer, we will reveal more about the new location and the new store, but for now, here are some pictures of the early construction...

9qw3.jpg


u066.jpg


quti.jpg
 
Sounds awesome! Looking forward to the new store opening and congratulations on your growing business!
 
We definitly need a storefront over here in europe...
Say Cologne?
 
Congrats to the growth and the new place. Definitely appropriate to show a WIP here since the guys here are buying your place, in a way ;)

Stefan
 
Wow wow, when's the Australian branch opening up Jon?
 
Congratulations on the new storefront!
 
Congrats Jon! Can't wait to see how the new space comes together.
 
Congratulations Jon! I can't wait to see the new space and come and visit!
 
We need a store like that up here in the Willamette Valley. It only rains a little bit here.. what's there to be scared of
 
I am pretty sure it's in Canada, so relax :)
 
Seems like the Netherlands? (Wishful thinking)
 
damn this looks cool project, good luck with the upcoming move.
 
Jon has, confidentially, told me it's to be in Gnaw Bone, Indiana (yes there really is a Gnaw Bone, Indiana).

I'm kidding.....Good Luck with the new store!
 
haha... sorry to burst your bubble, but we're still going to be in LA... that being said, clearly i have some thinking to do about national and international expansion ;) Now if only i had some clones
 
How about a WIP thread on the new place with pictures? Would love to see it grow and come together.
 
i'm trying to do that... but i often end up there late at night to check on work, so late night pics are a bit tough... i'm heading over tomorrow to see how its coming along though, so i'll try to post some more pics
 
I'm hoping for more obvious parking! :lol: Can't wait to see the new digs! Congrats!
 
some more pictures... for what its worth, we're still in LA, but a bit more central location than Venice (i promise i'll tell you guys the exact location very soon)...

sorry for the crappy cell phone pics

1961054_10152033380548860_665845981_o.jpg


1553101_10152033380553860_1910029664_o.jpg


1907793_10152033380513860_1743554372_o.jpg


1913219_10152033380573860_338898968_o.jpg


1782515_10152033380563860_1015330090_o.jpg
 
Congratulations and good luck! Must be exciting! I bet you could make it in NYC too.
 
I posted some more photos on facebook today, but more importantly, i posted this on our website today...
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/notice-page

Japanese Knife Imports will be closed from Thursday, March 27th for about a week as we move our store to a new location... please read below for more information on this.

Japanese Knife Imports began as a website in 2010, practically operating from our bedroom and closet. Since that time, we have grown into a much larger company. In 2011, we opened our brick and mortar storefront in Venice, CA. It was a small space, but somehow worked for us well. We always wanted our store to feel less like a traditional retail establishment and more like walking into a friends house or living room. The small quarters proved to provide an intimate environment for us and our customers, and thanks to all of you, it turned out to be a great success. However, one of the downsides to a small space is that we quickly outgrew it in terms of our needs for display space, but more importantly, storage. In early 2013, we began looking for a larger location for our store. It took a while, but in August, we found such a place. While we would have loved to stay in or around the Venice area, we were unable to find a place that was both the right size and had parking. We did, however, find a spectacular place in a different part of town.

Since the beginning of our business, we have always maintained an office in Beverly Hills. This is where we receive packages, among many other things (anyone who has used our mail-in sharpening service will know this). Our new store is much closer to our office in Beverly Hills. It also happens to be a bit closer to my family, which we hope will be helpful now that Kenzo is in our lives. In addition to being much bigger and having more parking than our current store, our new store will also feature an improved workshop for my sharpening and some other new things we will reveal as the new store opening gets closer.

Our new store location is:

Japanese Knife Imports
8642 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90211

We hope you'll come and visit our new store when it is finally open. Stay tuned for the most up to date information.

-Jon
 
I like the storefront -- it really sets the mood for Japanese knives and other wares. Can't wait to see what you and Sara come up with for the interior layout/ displays. Where is the nursery? :biggrin:
 
We expect to be able to reopen the store location by Friday, April 11th. We are sorry this is taking longer than planned. We will begin shipping items bought online by Monday, April 7th.
 
Back
Top