Supermarket company opens Czech cafe in Pechersk; plans more restaurants
the first place in Kyiv to serve Czech cuisine. It’s also the Fozzy Group’s inaugural foray into the restaurant business. And having started a new restaurant division, the supermarket company is betting that developing eateries will be just as profitable as selling food retail.
Fozzy Group, known for its Silpo, Fora, and Fozzy markets, only recently decided to branch into restaurants.
“Fozzy originally was planning to develop in adjacent markets, so the decision to enter the food market is a logical continuation of the company’s development,” says Yuriy Semenov, manager of Fozzy’s new restaurant, club and cafe branch, and a Fozzy vice president for development.
He says Fozzy was very careful to make sure the restaurant, located at 4 Suvorova in the Pechersk Trade Center, was a pleasant place to eat.
“We tried to make our restaurant a real artwork. We called Arsen Chilidze, the famous Ukrainian interior designer, to help us realize our idea,” Semenov says. “We wanted it to be a special place. Here we intentionally rejected plasma screens. We wanted our guests to come to enjoy the food, the music, the service, the environment.”
So far, the formula seems to be working. Lame Paul’s has become so popular that Semenov advises making reservations on weekends.
Before the end of the year, Fozzy Group will approve plans for several more restaurants in Kyiv. But the company isn’t rushing into anything.
“Only after evaluating the profitability of such projects will we make our decision,” Semenov says.
According to its Web site, Fozzy also intends to open a network of catering shops across the country.
“Now it’s become possible for Kyivans to enjoy genuine Czech cuisine and draught beer,” says Semenov.The company hopes to capitalize on regional cuisine previously unrepresented in the city. Semenov says they “even have a live broadcast of Czech radio, and we plan to bring little traditional souvenirs from the Czech Republic in to decorate our historic interior.”
