Customer numbers at existing CoCo Ichibanya curry restaurants fell 7.0% year on year in September, the month the chain introduced a late-night surcharge, operator Ichibanya reported in its monthly figures for the month.
Spending per customer rose 6.1% over the same month, but sales fell 1.4%, leaving the higher prices short of covering the drop in traffic.
The chain, known in Japan as Kokoichi, has long been considered resistant to price increases among restaurant operators. With average spend now said to be in the 1,200-yen range, that strategy appears to be nearing its limit.
Surcharge and topping price rises
From September 1, CoCo Ichibanya added a 7% surcharge to orders placed between 10pm and 5am the following morning. The charge applies to takeout as well as customers eating in.
On the same date the chain raised the price of 12 of its 44 toppings by an average of 17%. The popular crispy chicken topping went from 348 yen to 396 yen, tax included. The company cited higher costs for ingredients, distribution and labor.
Weather also weighed on September. Typhoons and heavy rain are said to have hurt trade, though the decline follows a longer slide in customer numbers.
Two years of falling traffic
Existing-store customer counts held roughly steady through August 2024, then turned downward that September. Traffic fell 1.5% in the fiscal year to February 2025 and 3.5% in the year to February 2026, the second straight annual decline.
Between March and August this year, customer numbers recovered to roughly the same level as the year before. September's drop reversed that.