Shops and restaurants try to lure customers with anti-flu measures

As fears over the spread of swine flu cause people across Japan to cancel outings, many shops and restaurants have been seeing a decline in business.

Here are a few examples of businesses that have come up with clever ways to make customers feel safe:

• A conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain in Kansai has begun to put plastic cases over sushi dishes. The customer interviewed is impressed and feels it makes the sushi safer.
• Domino’s Pizza has ordered its employees to wear masks and regularly check themselves for fevers. When answering the phone to take orders, they announce to customers that their staff will be wearing masks. Their deliverymen apologize for their appearance and tell people that they are wearing the mask as protection from the H1N1 flu. Apparently some people prefer the safe feeling of eating at home to the dangers of going to a public place, so Domino’s sales have more than doubled.

• A group of small stores in one Tokyo area have joined together to launch an essential food/product delivery system. Customers who are afraid to venture out into the flu-infested world can just fill out a form and have the products they desire left at their doorstep.

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