We will continue to pursue our customers' happiness with relentless determination.

When I was a university student, I worked part-time at a cafe dining and felt the joy of the service industry, and the company that ran the restaurant also designed wedding invitations, so I had heard about Plan-Do-See (PDS)from the president. One day, I had the opportunity to go to eat at FORTUNE GARDEN KYOTO (FGK) in Kyoto, and I was captivated by the cool atmosphere, liveliness, delicious food, and service. I thought, "There's an extraordinary space that can make you so happy!" and after leaving the restaurant, I decided to apply to this company, and that was how I met PDS.

The vision at the time was to "create a society that values extraordinary time."

Originally, I played soccer all the way through college, so I was really looking forward to my one day off a week (laughs). I always enjoyed my one day off a week with friends, spent time with my family, went to restaurants and hotels, and treasured the extraordinary time. I wanted to be able to give myself that kind of time when I became a working adult, because it enriched me. However, since COVID-19 was in full swing at the time, when I consulted with people around me about applying to the hospitality industry, they asked me, "Are you sure?" At that time, there was a lot of talk about how many jobs would be replaced by AI, but when I thought about what jobs could not be replaced by AI, I thought that hospitality, creative ideas, and management skills were irreplaceable, so I thought it was the hospitality industry. On the contrary, I thought that the more AI develops, the more the value of the hospitality industry will increase, and PDS was the coolest company in that industry.

Also, when I started going through the PDS selection process, it just so happened that my senior in my university's soccer club, Mizuguchi Go, had received a job offer from PDS, and since he was a senior I respected since our club days, that made me feel even more motivated.

When it comes to the company, hard work always pays off.

PDS members show more affection than anyone else to the members they work with, they keep a close eye on their teammates, and when they take action with the customer in mind, their seniors notice and evaluate them. Up until now, no matter how much I played soccer, there were times when it was meaningless if I didn't get results, but PDS looks at the process, accompanies me, and evaluates me, so it's a moment when I think it was good to join.

I also worked at 6th by oriental hotel, which was a store that had a lot of customers, and we served hundreds of customers a day. Even though we provided the same service to all customers, there were times when the value of our service did not reach them, which was frustrating, but still, customers would come back to us, and just as I had envisioned when I joined the company, I felt glad to be providing services at PDS when they said, "I finished work early so I could meet you, Furukawa-san!" It's moments like these that make me feel glad to have joined PDS, knowing thatI can be involved in the prosperity of our customers.

For about six months after I joined the company, I thought I had absorbed a lot of things and was able to deliver value to customers, so I thought I had made a good start, but in fact, there was a period of about a year where I was stagnant to the point where even I realized that I had not grown much. However, my teammates and seniors continued to expect more from me, saying, "You can do more, Atsuya," so there were times when I persevered in order to repay them.

I also wanted to go to Niseko, Hokkaido, to help break out of this situation, as part of a project where PDS's young members would build and operate a restaurant called The BARN BY ODIN from scratch, which was only available during the winter season, but I thought it would be wrong to make the decision to change myself by changing my environment when I wasn't working hard at the job in front of me. So while everyone else in my class was at BARN, I decided to change myself, as I wasn't focusing on the job in front of me.

My bosses, Mitchi and Shota, supported me in making this decision by putting me in charge of shifts and training. I also hired about 20 part-time staff and was involved in everything from welcoming them to training them. By continuing to show my love for the staff, I was able to see them making customers happy, which made me think "This is what a restaurant is all about!", which led to the fun of working in the dining area. From then on, every day was fun and I felt glad that I joined PDS.

I believe that we are a company that is relentlessly pursuing customer satisfaction.

Rather than developing products that will sell or are trendy, we think about what kind of products would make customers who visit PDS stores happy, and by doing so we are able to create great products that naturally become popular. We also continue to improve and evolve these products, making them even more delicious and making our customers smile, which makes us very happy.

When I was assigned to the dining area of Luigans, lunch was served buffet style regardless of whether it was a weekday or weekend, and I wanted to improve the quality. I also felt that the menu was not something that the members truly loved, so I suggested making a change.

When I thought about the reason to have lunch in Fukuoka and the reason to visit here, I told them that I wanted to be able to order freshly cooked international cuisine a la carte on weekdays, but that I wanted a buffet on weekends, even though it was a bit selfish. The reason is that on weekends, many families come to Marine World, which is next to Luigans, and I thought that children would enjoy the buffet more at that time. I thought it would be a lot of work to have a la carte on weekdays and a buffet only on weekends, but the kitchen members were also happy to accept it, and it became a really happy experience for our customers, and the members themselves also loved the product more.

"Someone who will never betray you", I guess.

Whether in Japan or overseas, everyone is desperately trying to embody the essence and vision of PDS at every store, andbecause the company has not wavered at all, I think everyone is able to continue to embody it.If the company wavers, the employees will become anxious, but because we can continue to deliver happy things to our customers, I believe that this company will never let us down.

When I was in Fukuoka, there was someone who had been working there as a part-timer for about 15 years, and I was curious as to whether he had any worries about continuing to work there as a part-timer for 15 years, so I asked him about it. I was shocked to hear him say, "This company will never let you down." He said that he wanted to continue working there, regardless of whether he was a part-timer or a full-time employee, because the company's goals and objectives are unwavering, and I thought that was exactly right.

I've been saying this ever since I joined the company, but my vision remains the same: "Creating a world filled with people whose lives have become more colorful through encounters with PDS."

I want to create opportunities for people to work hard every day so that their customers can come to the restaurant and have a happy time, and for members and job seekers to say that they are happy working because of me, or that they decided to join the company because of me, regardless of the means.To achieve this, I want to continue to fulfill PDS's vision of increasing the value of the city in more wonderful places and creating the most comfortable spaces, and continue to provide opportunities to enrich both the extraordinary time of my customers and the daily lives of my members, which is what I wanted to do.