Skylark Holdings, which runs Gusto, Bamiyan, Shabuyo, Yumean and Jonathan's, said August all-store sales rose 7.2% year on year, with sales at outlets open for at least 13 months, its existing-store measure, up 4.6%. At those established restaurants, almost all of the growth came from customers spending more, not visiting more often: average spend per visit climbed 4.2% while customer traffic edged up just 0.4%.
| Metric | August 2026 | January-August cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| All-store sales | 107.2% | 108.4% |
| Existing-store sales | 104.6% | 106.1% |
| Customer traffic | 100.4% | 101.3% |
| Average spend per customer | 104.2% | 104.8% |
For the January-through-August stretch, cumulative all-store sales are running 8.4% ahead of last year. That pace has cooled since the start of the year, when all-store sales were up 12.0% year on year in January.
Skylark opened seven new restaurants in August: two under Shinpachi Shokudo, one each for Bamiyan, Shabuyo and Yumean, and two overseas. One of the overseas openings was Shinpachi Shokudo's first restaurant outside Japan, in Singapore. Four existing outlets converted to other formats: three to the group's udon-noodle chain and one to another in-house brand. The group's total store count reached 3,210 at the end of August, up from 3,204 in July, with Gusto down to 1,202 outlets from 1,206 in July and the overseas tally up to 125 from 122. Skylark also said it has been selected for all six ESG indices used by Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund for a third straight year, and it ran meal-service and fundraising drives for people affected by the Kumamoto earthquake.
The numbers are Skylark's own flash figures, released through a Tokyo Stock Exchange disclosure. The filing does not say whether the higher average spend reflects menu price increases, bigger orders, or promotional upselling.