Meet Toshi and Mika Yoshida

There is an event from that time that I still remember well. One day when I entered Whole Foods, there was an Employee of the Month announcement, and I was chosen, even though I wasn’t an official employee. Each employee could cast one vote for someone, and people took notice of my work ethic. Eventually, my sushi franchise expanded to six locations.

However, five years later, in 2004, I was refused a contract renewal and lost all six of my franchise locations. “I don’t want to make sushi anymore,” I thought, so I moved to Greensboro and started a coffee shop called Coffee and Roses Express in 2005. Although it wasn’t a highly profitable shop, I gradually gained regular customers. When I worked at Whole Foods, I simply made sushi like a machine, but at the coffee shop, I realized I was able to chat with and connect with customers.

Coffee and Roses Express was relocated due to road expansion, and the current Toshi’s Cafe was born. It had been more than six years since I lost my job at Whole Foods, and I was ready to try sushi again. At the time, it was during the recession, so things didn’t go smoothly at first, but I was encouraged and supported by my regular customers. As time passed, the economy improved, and Toshi’s Cafe grew in popularity. In 2013, I remarried to Mika, and we worked together to provide even better service to customers. Now, since Mika’s “M” adorns the shop’s logo, you can see how much I rely on her continued love and support.

When the economy stabilized, and Mika and I got married, Toshi’s Cafe was on track for success, but then we were hit by COVID-19.

Back then, I never dreamed that we would be unable to let customers into our store. However, that nightmare became a reality. A state of emergency was declared, and North Carolina’s restaurants were only allowed to operate with takeout or delivery.

Most of our employees refused to come to work out of fear of COVID-19. The landlord did not relent on rent, and in the beginning, even with the store open, hardly any customers came because of the emergency declaration.

However, with Mika, we put our heads together and quickly launched new initiatives such as online ordering, delivery, and curbside pickup. In addition, our daughter, who was attending university, and our son, who was in high school, were able to help with the business since everything moved online. Gradually, more customers came, and within a month, we recovered our sales from before the state of emergency was declared. Furthermore, we continued to grow even after that.

In addition, due to COVID-19, we cleared an area of tables and chairs in the dining area, and it became “Mika’s Snack Market.” We sell goods mainly imported from Japan and hope the variety of unique candy and snacks delight our customers.

Next to the snack market, we have set up a space to sell small items made by local artists. My wife, Mika, is also an artist and creates and sells characters with a cute Japanese touch.

We also commissioned a local artist to paint “Toshi’s Cafe’s Tree” on the dining area wall. No matter how much online communication advances, people will always seek connection with others. Toshi’s Cafe aims to create an environment where customers can enjoy chatting while looking at the art on display and getting a taste of Japanese food and culture.