Suruki cousins continue Japanese traditions at Suruki Supermarket

The market is known for its wide range of sushi-grade fish, specialty Japanese snacks and ready-made foods, like bento boxes and hand-rolled sushi plates. Its ready-made food section is fresh daily. It is famous for its 50% off sale at 4 p.m., one hour before closing, to sell out remaining items. Whatever is left over is offered to the store’s employees and everything else is thrown out, said Suruki.

Suruki said the market is unique because it goes above and beyond for its customers.

“We bend over backward for our customers,” he said. “People make all types of crazy requests but we try to accommodate them.”

That legacy of service began in 1974, when Shuji Suruki, James’ father, had a truck he would load with Japanese groceries and fish he delivered to homes around the Bay Area.

“He would grab a phonebook, call all the Japanese names in it, letting them know he would be in the neighborhood with Japanese groceries, vegetables and fish and would set up a dropping off point,” said Suruki.

His customers were families of Japanese businessmen, farmers growing carnations, roses, chrysanthemums and strawberries. It took two days to cover the Bay Area and he would travel as far as Salinas. The customers would wait for him to come until midnight and some would spend a night at a nearby motel waiting.

Shuji Suruki and his wife Ryuko opened up their first brick-and-mortar market in Burlingame in 1980, which they ran with only a few employees. He and his sister grew up at the market, helping their parents with whatever they needed. At an early age, James Suruki said his father instilled the importance of hard work in his children.

“He worked 60 hours a week his entire life,” he said.

By 1990, the market outgrew its Burlingame location and Shuji Suruki and his wife moved the business to its current location. By the time Shuji Suruki was nearing retirement, his son had gone to college and studied business. He didn’t necessarily plan to take over the business but, when the time came, he felt like he needed to keep the business running because his parents worked so hard to make it successful.

“There are many family businesses that don’t make it because the next generation doesn’t want to take it over and my parents worked so hard I didn’t want to just let it go, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to step in and help run the business,” said James Suruki.

The two worked side by side for many years until Shuji Suruki died in 2017.

The pandemic was tough for many businesses, but Suruki said the grocery industry wasn’t one of them. There are many more new faces around the market he attributes to more people cooking food at home and Facebook groups who intentionally support local businesses.

“We actually now have more employees than we’ve ever had,” said Suruki, adding one lesson from his father was his willingness to work side by side with employees.

I told myself when I was younger, that I would never work as hard as my father did, yet here I am working the same as he did because it really takes leadership by example to have employees that respect you and will work hard for you,” said Suruki.

The market remains a family business. James’ mother and sister still work at the market. His cousin Steven Suruki runs Kaz Teriyaki Grill, the bento box restaurant next to the market. Steven Suruki’s father Kazunori Suruki ran it before him.

Kazunori Suruki was the youngest of six siblings, his oldest sibling was his brother Shuji. He was a landscaper and couldn’t find good quality, affordable, healthy food to eat, so he made his own. It eventually blossomed into his own restaurant on the corner. Steven Suruki has worked there for 15 years and took over when his father retired in 2021.

“I started as the rice boy, scooping rice and helping out with the bentos and eventually went onto the cashier,” said Steven Suruki. “Then I was doing everything after that, if people called in sick, I would come in and fill in for whatever needed to be done.”

There is a sense of unity working with his family he appreciates, and has known some of the customers for more than 20 years, even back to his high school days.

“Now they have children of their own and those children are now in high school and bring their friends,” said Steven Suruki. “They might not remember me from that long ago, but I recognize them and I have an obligation to them.”

Both brothers, Shuji and Kazunori, came to the United States at a young age from war-torn Japan. Their experiences shaped their world view, which they passed to their children. When he has hard days, he remembers his father’s phrase.

“Hard times make hard men, I guess, and that’s how my dad was,” said Steven Suruki.

It’s a Japanese tradition that the firstborn child is supposed to take over the family business, Steven Suruki said. This is a tradition he follows.

“My father gave me a choice and I wanted to keep it going,” Steven Suruki said. “I’m just keeping his legacy alive.”

nick@smdailyjournal.com

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