An Era of Not Opening a Store Abruptly: 'Colle,' a Kitchen-Equipped Facility to 'Test Your Store,' Opens in Takasaki in Summer 2026

Shirai Inc. will open 'Colle,' a kitchen-equipped facility in Kamisano-cho, Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, where aspiring entrepreneurs and businesses looking to expand can conduct test marketing through actual operations.

Colle is a place where users can practice product development, pricing, customer acquisition, customer service, social media promotion, and community building through cafe operations, pop-ups, and workshops. The goal is not to immediately rent a storefront, but to start small, test operations, gauge real reactions, and build experience and trust for the next step.

The name 'Colle' comes from the Italian word for a low, hollow place between mountains. It embodies the desire to be a base that supports users' 'ease of starting' and 'next step' as a midpoint between a small challenge and the next big mountain ahead. The logo was designed by Takuma Shichiji, a designer who moved to Gunma Prefecture. With an eye toward potential future expansion to other regions, the design incorporates the location name, making it 'Colle kamisano' for this first base.

When considering opening a restaurant or cafe, many people first face the large initial investment. Property acquisition costs, interior construction, kitchen equipment, signage, supplies, and advertising. Owning a store requires significant expense. Meanwhile, whether the product will be accepted locally, the right price point, the customer demographic, and the expected foot traffic are difficult to gauge without actually operating. Colle is a place to turn these pre-opening anxieties and uncertainties into actual operational experience.

Users can utilize the kitchen-equipped space to actually offer their products and services. By observing customer reactions, they can refine their product lineup, pricing, sales methods, and promotional strategies for their next session. Through this cycle of practice, a simple idea can be cultivated into a more realistic business plan.

At Colle, individuals aiming to start a business or companies looking to expand can test operations on a small scale in a setting close to an actual store. Main use cases include pre-opening test runs for restaurants, selling baked goods, bread, deli items, and drinks, test marketing new products or areas by existing businesses, pop-up stores, workshops and small events, tasting and sales events for local residents, trial operations for expanding into the Takasaki area, and building operational experience for future independence.

Colle is not just a space rental. It values helping users improve their decision-making skills for opening a business by actually selling products, interacting with customers, promoting, and improving. What is needed to start a business is not just passion and product quality. The experience of actually operating, receiving customer feedback, and continuously improving is crucial. At Colle, users can gain practical business experience by setting their own business days, attracting customers, providing products, and reviewing the results.

Colle is located in a residential area of Kamisano-cho, Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture. Because it is close to daily life rather than in the city center, it provides local residents with a chance to discover new products and people, and gives users an opportunity to test reactions within a real living area. Through daily-changing cafe operations, baked goods sales, pop-ups, and workshops, various challenges will gather at Colle.

Colle plans to sequentially hold previews, business consultations, and events for prospective users. Information on user openings and their challenge stories will be shared via Instagram and the official website. The long-term goal is to create a cycle where users who gain experience at Colle can move on to open their own stores, fostering new businesses in the community.

Shirai Inc., which operates Colle, is an architecture firm based in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, handling projects nationwide as SHIRAI ARCHITECTS. It has been involved in spatial planning for stores, architecture, interiors, and real estate regeneration. Through its involvement in many store opening plans, it has seen the anxiety of entrepreneurs who must make large initial investments without sufficient pre-opening validation. Colle was born as a practical base to more realistically support the challenges of aspiring entrepreneurs, with the architecture firm itself investing, preparing the space, and handling operations.

On the upper floor of Colle, a designed residence called 'Collenoue' will be provided.