Fusian sushi shuts down 2 restaurants, shifts focus

Fusian — the fast-casual sushi chain founded by three former Oakwood classmates — has shut down another restaurant. It marks the second store closing in a month.

The Fusian location at 14 E. 11th Ave. adjacent to the campus of Ohio State University, open since 2013, is now listed as "permanently closed" on the restaurant's Facebook page.

RELATED: 5 questions with the founders of Fusian (December 2015)

The closure of the OSU location — the first of what had been four Columbus-area restaurants — means that Fusian has gone from operating 12 restaurants across the state to 10 within a few weeks. In early November, Fusian’s founders confirmed they had shut down their restaurant adjacent to the campus of the University of Cincinnati.

EARLIER THIS MONTH: Fusian shuts down ‘underperforming’ restaurant in Cincinnati

Multiple messages left with Fusian co-founder and CEO Zach Weprin since last Wednesday, Nov. 22 were not returned. Weprin told Columbus Business First last week in a statement that space limitations and the cost of retrofitting the space to accommodate its new Fusian bowls was too much.

When it closed down its Cincinnati location in early November, Weprin told this news outlet that Fusian's founders "are laser focused on internal operations right now. We just hired a new director of operations and a new culinary director. We are focused and committed on elevating the Fusian experience and being the best fast casual sushi restaurant in the country, which led to the decision to close this underperforming location."

RELATED: New ‘Wholey Bowls” now on the menu at local Fusian (April 2017)

Fusian still operates three locations in the Dayton area — at the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek, on Brown Street near the University of Dayton, and on Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Washington Twp. — as well as three in the Cincinnati area, three in the Columbus area, and one in Toledo.

RELATED: Fusian to open new Beavercreek restaurant May 6

Fusian Sushi was launched in Cincinnati in 2010 by Weprin, his brother Josh Weprin, and Stephan Harman, all of whom attended Oakwood’s Harman Elementary School. The trio had talked as kids of going into business together, Stephan Harman told this news outlet shortly after Fusian launched.

RELATED: Oakwood natives add another sushi restaurant in Columbus (January 2016)

After a relatively deliberate approach to growing the chain in its first four years, the trio accelerated its growth in recent years as it expanded into the new markets of Columbus and Toledo. The chain’s founders said in late 2015 that they intended to expand into the Cleveland market, but no locations have opened there yet.

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