Daimaru Sapporo pushes Kumayaki pastries

A department-store food hall is not usually where a rural roadside-station snack becomes the thing people suddenly hunt down. But that is basically what Daimaru Sapporo is trying this week. On May 13, the store opened a pop-up for Genzo Kumayaki in its basement “Hoppetown” food floor, pulling a beloved sweet from Tsubetsu into central Sapporo for six days of controlled scarcity and cute-animal appeal. ### What is Kumayaki? Kumayaki is a bear-shaped baked sweet — think taiyaki’s cousin, but puffier, softer, and built around a cartoonish bear silhouette instead of a fish. The original version comes from Roadside Station Aioi in Tsubetsu, eastern Hokkaido, where the product has become the site’s signature draw. The dough and fillings are made in-house, and the lineup includes red bean, cream-filled variants, and seasonal flavors. (domingo.ne.jp) ### What changed this week? The new thing is not the pastry itself. It is the location and the sales push. Daimaru Sapporo put “Genzo Kumayaki” into its B1 Hoppetown event zone from May 13 through May 19, turning a destination sweet into a downtown department-store item. That matters because Hoppetown is built for rotating impulse buys — the kind of place where a local specialty can move from travel souvenir to same-day office snack. (michinoeki-aioi.com) ### Why is the sales setup so specific? Because Daimaru is managing demand, not just offering a novelty. The pop-up runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., but sales are reservation-only until 1 p.m. After that, it switches to free sales while stock lasts. Each Kumayaki is priced at 300 yen. That schedule tells you the store expects concentrated early demand and wants to smooth the rush instead of letting the line become the whole event. (domingo.ne.jp) ### Why do people care about this pastry? Part of it is obvious — it is cute. But the stronger hook is that Kumayaki already has destination-snack status in Hokkaido. The official Aioi page leans hard into the handmade process, local ingredients, and the fact that weekend and holiday lines are normal. So when a Sapporo department store imports it for a limited run, shoppers are not seeing a random bear cake. They are seeing a thing they may have heard about, but not easily grabbed on a lunch break. (domingo.ne.jp) ### Is this the same as the original roadside version? Mostly in brand and shape, yes — but the retail context changes the product. At Aioi, Kumayaki is part of a road-trip stop and the appeal includes getting it fresh at the source. At Daimaru, the pitch is convenience and urgency. Same regional identity, different consumer psychology. One says “detour for this.” The other says “buy it before it’s gone.” That is a classic department-store food-hall move. (michinoeki-aioi.com) ### Why does Daimaru want a snack like this now? Because Hokkaido department stores use basement food halls as traffic engines. Daimaru’s Hoppetown page is packed with short-run food events, sweets rotations, and limited counters designed to keep regular shoppers checking back. Kumayaki fits that model almost perfectly — recognizable shape, local story, low ticket price, and built-in scarcity. It is the kind of item that can generate photos, queues, and repeat visits without needing a huge campaign. (domingo.ne.jp) ### So is this a big business story or a small retail one? It is a small retail story with a very clear playbook behind it. Daimaru is not inventing a new product. It is repackaging regional fame into urban foot traffic. Turns out that is often enough. If the reservation window fills and the afternoon batches keep moving, the lesson is simple — local specialties do not need national scale to matter. They just need the right floor, the right city, and a line that starts forming before lunch. (daimaru.co.jp) (domingo.ne.jp)