Hello Nori, a Vancouver-based sushi restaurant chain, is bringing the traditional Japanese temaki – hand-rolled sushi – into the spotlight, offering a unique dining experience to Canada. The restaurant has plans on expanding throughout Canada and to break into international markets with a goal of having 100 Hello Nori locations worldwide.
“Our vision for Hello Nori is to open 100 locations across the world, sharing the unique and homey experience of hand rolls with more communities. We aim to expand across major markets in Canada such as Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, and beyond in the upcoming years. The flexibility of our kitchen set up allows us to strategically choose prime real estate locations. We are excited to keep innovating the menu and concept to bring even more premium experience to our customers,” says Isaac Olivier, director of restaurant operations at Hello Nori.
Currently, Hello Nori has three locations in Vancouver with the original location on Robson Street which opened in 2021, one in Brentwood, and a few weeks ago opened a smaller location which is designed for menu innovation.
“So the first location we opened in 2021 is on Robson Street, essentially the heart of shopping, tourism, and dining. The second location we recently opened is in Brentwood, an amazing neighbourhood that has really taken off in the last five years, and then we actually just opened a smaller research and development outlet on Expo Boulevard near the stadium where our chef is going to be preparing new dishes for takeout.”
The new concept will allow the chef to try new menu items in a low-pressure environment before launching them more widely at other Hello Nori locations.
Expansion plans
Hello Nori already has established its presence in Vancouver with its locations and will be continuing as Olivier says he is planning to open three additional locations within the next two years:
- CF Richmond Centre in Richmond, which will open by early June. Olivier says this location will be its largest restaurant as it will have 36 seats instead of 24.
- Park Royal in West Vancouver, which will be under a new concept
- Oakridge Park, “an enormous premium mall that is just being built and should be ready by 2025.”
As for Ontario. Olivier says construction in Toronto has already begun for two locations. The first location will be at 650 King Street West in Toronto and will also be a larger space offering 36 seats: “this is a great location and pretty much right in the heart of the entertainment district in Toronto.”
The second location is going to be on York Street in the downtown Financial District and should be completed hopefully early in 2025.
The brand will be looking into expanding further into major shopping centres across Ontario, specially around areas such as Yorkville and Yonge and Shepherd, and will also be looking into the Calgary market for expansion. Once the Canadian expansion is set, Olivier says the brand would like to open locations globally.
“As far as Hello Nori is concerned, we have just begun. The vision is to open 100 locations across the world ultimately. We would like to expand more in BC, Toronto, Montreal, and other parts of Ontario and then just really take it across Canada before heading into other countries.”
Hello Nori Signature – new in-store concept
The Park Royal location will be under a new concept and will offer an enhanced dining experience compared to its standard locations.
“Park Royal, which is actually going to be a different concept, is titled Hello Nori Signature. It will have seating, a full kitchen, and essentially offer a more premium experience. As opposed to the wooden seats, there are going to be plush leather seats in the bar so you can really enjoy the Japanese whisky as well as our vision is to have the largest selection of Japanese whiskey in Canada.”
The designs are not the only thing that will be changing as this location will also offer an expanded menu and will include hot food items, a broader range of sushi, and an extensive cocktail menu. This will be the first location under this concept, but Hello Nori is looking into expanding this concept to other locations in Canada.
As the brand continues to expand, Olivier says Hello Nori’s targeted locations are ones that combine high foot traffic with great visibility, choosing spots that can accommodate their kitchen needs with less space than traditional restaurants require. Avision Young handles all site locations for Hello Nori and the brokers involved include Ali Baker, MacKenzie Kohl, and Caitlyn Micuda.
“We are definitely very particular with our locations. But one of the interesting benefits of Hello Nori is that as it really only focuses on rice and seafood, the requirements for a kitchen are less compared to a typical full-scale restaurant, which usually requires full gas ranges and a lot of heavy equipment. So we are able to pick and choose different locations that wouldn’t have necessarily been suitable for restaurants to begin with – which gives us a better pick.”
