In search of “something that can only be found here.”
Regional values discovered from thorough customer perspectives.

"When you think of shops in a spot area, one of the highlights is the souvenir shop. However, at Sano Highway Restaurant, there is actually low demand for souvenirs, which should be one of the highlights of the shops." So says Sano Highway Restaurant manager Iida Kazuhiro. Sano Highway Restaurant is built so that you can walk to and from Sano SA (inbound lane), but since it is mostly used as mere “stop-by” when going on vacation from the Tokyo Metropolitan Area to Tochigi, there are not many people who bother to buy souvenirs. The challenges facing Sano Highway Restaurant were unique to its location.

“So we focused on developing and enhancing products that can only be found here, that people can't help but pick up while traveling. Through such product development, we wanted to highlight the charm of the region. '' says Madarame Hiroyuki, who also a manager of Sano Highway Restaurant.

We took the customer's perspective as someone who was on their way to a vacation and had no intention of buying anything yet. What kind of products would appeal to customers in such a psychological state? With this mindset in mind, we visited various rest spots, including not only Tohoku Expressway but also Kanetsu Expressway, in search of something that could only be found at Sano Highway Restaurant.