Meet Scott Kohno | store owner of Yama Sushi Marketplace

We had the good fortune of connecting with Scott Kohno and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Scott, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The key factor behind our success is understanding the value of a single customer. My personal mantra is that one customer is worth $10,000. You see, if you give that single customer the best service possible, and they share their experience with just three friends—something we know nearly all Yama customers do—the power of this concept becomes clear.

By embracing this principle, it becomes evident how we must prioritize our quality and authenticity to create meaningful, emotional connections between each customer and the Yama brand. Every hour, our staff and managers face challenges and must make decisions that directly affect our customers. “Is the quality ok?”, “This fish seems a little off.”, etc. However, when they focus on the long-term value of each customer, the decision to make the customer happy becomes quite simple.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I once thought I was meant to be a lawyer, but after working at two law firms and witnessing how unhappy the attorneys were, I realized my true passion was in entrepreneurship. I was fascinated with creating new companies, consulting with existing ones and learning about the world of retail. For over 30 years, I have had the privilege to work in over 20 different countries, partnering with retailers ranging from startups to Fortune 500 organizations.

This experience allowed me to travel the world with my family, immersing ourselves in different cultures, histories and cuisines; these experiences became the foundation for our business, Yama Sushi Marketplace. Today, we proudly operate as a family business, focused on exactly these elements of culture, history and the food of Japan.

Yama Sushi Marketplace offers a one-of-a-kind retail experience, featuring the freshest sashimi fish cut to order, grab-and-go sushi prepared hourly and a wide range of uniquely curated products from Japan. We build strong, meaningful connections with our customers through deep community involvement, including hosting fundraisers, sushi-making and sake-tasting classes and taking the time to educate about the fascinating world of Japan. We are much more than just a store— we’re the “home team,” with everyone cheering us on. One story that comes to mind is when a father recently visited the store holding the hand of his 4-year-old daughter and said to me, “Thank you for being a part of our community. My daughter and I love your store, and it is our routine Friday night date night.” Hearing this was a heartwarming reminder that our customers truly value what we do.

Getting to this point has been an incredible journey. While working around the world, I saw a wide range of practices in retail merchandising and customer engagement. As a consultant, I worked with a business that often faced many challenges, including periods of growth when we had a staff of over 100 to only 10 people when times were tough. Not being able to make payroll on a Friday was perhaps the worst feeling in the world and something I will never forget. When we built our Yama brand, we chose a conservative approach to our growth, as we know that there will always be the ups and downs with any industry.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For a full LA experience, we would start by swinging by Yama Sushi Marketplace to pick up some sushi (the Bento Boxes go quick!), then go to some of the top sporting venues in the city, such as the new Intuit Dome and catch a game at Dodgers Stadium. The next day, we would head to Hollywood and take the famous Hollywood Bus tour to see celebrity houses, visit the Chinese Theater and have a dinner at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

The following day, I would schedule a drive along the coast of Los Angeles to visit some of the beach cities and play a round of golf at Monarch Bay in Laguna Niguel, which is known for its spectacular ocean views. Then, we’d finish off the day with an In-N-Out Cheeseburger. That night, we’d take an overnight excursion to Las Vegas to catch a show, gamble and visit a well-known restaurant like Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen. Once we return, we’d begin the day with a hike in the San Gabriel Mountains and enjoy a half day at Universal Studios. Before they leave, I’d squeeze in a low-key farewell dinner with our Temaki Time Platter and a big bottle of our new Narumi Craft Sake!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The credit for our success goes to my family—my wife Wendy and my children, Remi and Trenton. Each of them plays a pivotal role in our company, including managing areas like finance, marketing and operations. We started our family business about ten years ago in 2014 by opening a food stall at the 626 Night Market in Arcadia, CA. Although this was only a few weekends during the summer, we all learned a lot about the fundamentals of branding, marketing, food operations, HR and finance, which we now implement in our own day-to-day work.

Website: https://www.yamasushimarketplace.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yamasushimarketplace/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yamaseafoodla/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/yama-sushi-marketplace-san-gabriel-2

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_7j3lvJlgSC6Wua8gq5Ijg

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@yamasushimarketplace

Image Credits
Yama Sushi Marketplace