itsu
{{lowercase title}}
{{short description|British chain of East Asian-inspired restaurants}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox company
| name = itsu
| logo = 180px
| type = Private
| industry = Fast casual restaurant
| foundation = 1997
| founder = Julian Metcalfe
| location = London, England, UK
| key_people = Clive Schlee
| products = Food
| num_employees = 852 (2020){{cite web |title=Annual report and financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2020 |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03286342/filing-history/MzMzMTgyODM2OWFkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0 |website=Companies House |publisher=itsu Limited |access-date=8 June 2022 |page=34 |date=4 Mar 2022 |format=PDF}}
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.itsu.com}}
}}
itsu (いつ/itsu is Japanese for when) is a British chain of East Asian-inspired fast food shops and restaurants and a grocery company.Moules, Jonathan. [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1c5e2dc4-81be-11e3-a600-00144feab7de.html "itsu founder nurtures a new generation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125043951/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1c5e2dc4-81be-11e3-a600-00144feab7de.html |date=25 January 2014 }}, Financial Times, London, 21 January 2014. Retrieved on 21 January 2014. The company offers franchises.{{cite web | title=franchising | website=itsu | date=5 April 2022 | url=https://www.itsu.com/franchising/ | access-date=26 February 2023 | archive-date=26 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226231949/https://www.itsu.com/franchising/ | url-status=live }}
History
The chain was founded by Julian Metcalfe, co-founder of sandwich chain Pret a Manger, in partnership with Clive Schlee.{{cite news |last=Smithers |first=Rebecca |date=8 October 2010 |title=Pret A Manger chief is stacking up healthy profits in lean times |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/oct/08/clive-schlee-pret-a-manger-interview |access-date=24 April 2013 |archive-date=4 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104210714/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/oct/08/clive-schlee-pret-a-manger-interview |url-status=live }}
In 2006, following the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, traces of the deadly isotope Polonium-210 were found at the Piccadilly branch of Itsu in London, where Litvinenko had dined on the day he was poisoned.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/06/alexander-litvinenko-and-the-most-radioactive-towel-in-history|title=Alexander Litvinenko and the most radioactive towel in history|last=Harding|first=Luke|date=6 March 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=21 July 2023}}{{ cite news
|title = Litvinenko's associate 'in a coma' as spy murder mystery deepens
|work = The Independent
|date = 8 December 2006
|url = http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2055590.ece
|access-date = 21 July 2023
|location = London
|first1 = Cahal
|last1 = Milmo
|first2 = Andrew
|last2 = Osborn
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070108191538/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2055590.ece
|archive-date = 8 January 2007
|df = dmy-all
}}
Outlets and expansion
File:itsu,_Commercial_Street,_Leeds_(29th_March_2018).jpg]]
The first itsu restaurant opened in Chelsea, London in 1997. In September 2013, itsu opened its first restaurant outside London, in Oxford.{{cite news |date=5 Sep 2013 |title=£1m itsu restaurant to open in Oxford |language=en |work=Oxford Mail |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10654522.1m-itsu-restaurant-to-open-in-oxford/ |access-date=8 June 2022 |archive-date=11 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111231450/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10654522.1m-itsu-restaurant-to-open-in-oxford/ |url-status=live }}
In January 2016, itsu opened its first Northern England restaurant, in Spinningfields, central Manchester.{{cite news |author=Shelina Begum |date=10 December 2015 |title=itsu picks Spinningfields for Manchester opening |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/itsu-picks-spinningfields-manchester-opening-10577025 |access-date=18 January 2016 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704204450/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/itsu-picks-spinningfields-manchester-opening-10577025 |url-status=live }} The chain later opened a branch in Leeds.
{{As of|2022}} itsu had 76 restaurants in England, including 54 in London (44 in February 2023), and one in Brussels Airport, Belgium.{{Cite web |title=itsu locations |url=https://www.itsu.com/locations |access-date=2022-07-04 |website=itsu |language=en-GB |archive-date=11 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711100108/https://www.itsu.com/locations/ |url-status=live }}
In June 2018, the company opened a branch in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, US.{{cite news |last1=Dai |first1=Serena |date=4 June 2018 |title=Pret Founder's Asian Grab-and-Go Chain itsu Just Dropped Into Midtown |language=en |work=Eater |url=https://ny.eater.com/2018/6/4/17425238/itsu-nyc-midtown-open-chain-pret |access-date=8 June 2022 |archive-date=17 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517232839/https://ny.eater.com/2018/6/4/17425238/itsu-nyc-midtown-open-chain-pret |url-status=live }} In February 2023 itsu's Web site listed Brussels and Paris as the only non-UK locations; the [http://www.itsu.com/us US Web page] was dead.
itsu [grocery]
In March 2012, Metcalfe's Food Company, run by Robert Jakobi, launched the itsu brand into retailVince Bamford, [http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/itsu-to-target-retailers-with-new-asian-snacks/218550.article "itsu to target retailers with new Asian snacks"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222051311/http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/Itsu-to-target-retailers-with-new-asian-snacks/218550.article |date=22 February 2014 }} The Grocer, June 2011 under the name itsu [grocery].
Partnerships
In January 2014, itsu became the official partner of the Volleyball England Beach Tour,Charlotte Edwardes, [https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/mr-itsu-julian-metcalfe-on-beautiful-lean-cuisine-why-he-loves-londons-hardworking-immigrants-and-his-noisy-troupe-of-children-and-steps-9103949.html "Mr itsu: Julian Metcalfe on beautiful lean cuisine, why he loves London's hard-working immigrants and his noisy troupe of children and steps] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330023205/http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/mr-itsu-julian-metcalfe-on-beautiful-lean-cuisine-why-he-loves-londons-hardworking-immigrants-and-his-noisy-troupe-of-children-and-steps-9103949.html |date=30 March 2015 }}, "London Evening Standard", 3 February 2014 but was not listed on the UKBT Web site as of 2021.{{cite web | title=UKBT Partners| website=UK Beach Tour | url=https://www.ukbeachtour.com/partners|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902160850/https://www.ukbeachtour.com/partners|archive-date=2 September 2021| access-date=26 February 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.itsu.com/ Official website]
- [https://www.itsu.com/grocery/ itsu Grocery website]
{{Restaurants in London}}
{{Food chains in the United Kingdom|state=expanded}}
Category:Restaurants in London