Ideal Coffee Shop

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Comments

  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    trekrider127 wrote:
    uumm .... before we all get carried away!

    I'd make sure you make it more than welcoming to non-bikey people - the harsh reality it is that you won't make sufficient income from the biking community to make it work without them.

    After all we spend it all on carbon frames - and life size pics of VP by the sounds ....

    (Economic Reality Check!)

    The Eureka Cyclists Cafe on the Wirral is almost exclusively visited by cyclists and it hasn't gone bust yet.

    Location is really important to me, when I head out on a ride I usually have cafe in mind to visit, so it has to be somewhere you want to go. I'd rule out city centre locations (for me - others may disagree).
    Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but it has to be inclusive. I hate it when cafes are cliquey with certain customers (the regulars). So employ staff who like people.
    Best of luck!
  • greasygrinder
    greasygrinder Posts: 37
    Read this article about opening a coffee shop in New York. Now.

    http://www.slate.com/id/2132576/

    If you still want to do it:

    Non-slip flooring for wet cleats. No steps anywhere if possible. Lots of space to lock bikes, ideally where you can keep an eye on them (ie. outside front window).

    +1 on simple spares: tubes, gels etc

    Every coffee shop should have free WiFi and lots of sockets for laptops, phone charging etc. Not necessarily aimed at cyclists (though I often wish I could stop somewhere and recharge my iPhone, as iTrail burns thru battery life).

    You will need to think about non-cyclists, as weekdays and winters are a big deal. The other thing to realise is that chain coffee shops make most of their profits from takeaways. The people who come in and linger over a coffee for an hour actually cost you money. So having an efficient takeaway counter where you shift lots of stuff fast and the queue doesn't build up (putting passersby off) is really vital.

    The thing to do is to sit in a Starbucks, and carefully work out how the whole thing is designed. They've spent millions tweaking their offering - it's a good place to start from.

    I once spoke to the MD of Coffee Republic, who told me that Starbucks spends millions on satellite tracking footfall data, and use complex algorithms to ensure perfect placement of each store.

    "And what do you do?" I asked.

    "We open next to Starbucks" he said.
    Knees tracking forward, elbows soft, cadenc- ooo, bunnies!
  • guilliano
    guilliano Posts: 5,495
    Home made pasties are a must too!!!
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/guilliano/
  • trekrider127
    trekrider127 Posts: 83
    Born and brought up on the Wirral .... so know it VERY well :)

    The problem is you can't create a heritage which goes back to 1929 in an instant ..... Eureka is a brand in itself ......... and probably for many years wasn't a truly viable commercial venture .... run more for the love of it than the financial benefit.

    I'm not wanting to be the one throwing buckets of cold water around ........ but in those immortal words of Dragons Den ..... 'I'm out!' ........ as I suspect the Dragons would be!

    But good luck ....... heritages need to be built from somewhere .... just make sure your doing for love not money.
  • alan_sherman
    alan_sherman Posts: 1,157
    Location is key. You probably want to be within 30 miles of a numbr of large urban centres so cyclists from those towns will use you as the destination for their ride. If near off road trails you'll get more change of MTB riders. For these folk a car park for them to drive to to use the off road trails seems to be important.

    You will need space, inside for the winter and outside for the summer. A nice view is a real plus. A place we stop at is a fishing lake so hits these things nicely.

    I'd avoid sofas as wet and sweaty cyclists could make them unplesent very quickly. You'll need seats which are easy to clean. same for the floor I suppose, persoally I've never taken my cleated shoes of for a coffee stop (that is a new one on me).

    secure bike parking is an issue. Most of us rely on trust of find well out of the way coffee stops. A simple rack system with cable locks attached and keys in them could work for some peace of mind. I've never seen anywhere that has done this so input there could be good. Alternatively if you have outhouses you could have a 'room' for a group (club etc) where one comes and gets the key, they all pile the bikes in and lock for the duration of their stay. Mke sure the key fob is huge though! Possibly an old wheel.....

    Good luck, don't forget the performing rights society for music / video otherwise you might get a fine.
  • Roger_This
    Roger_This Posts: 136
    mikeq wrote:
    Wood burning stove. Cafe at loch katrine has one surrounded by comfy couches, this was very welcome when we got soaked, you could get 10 people round it.

    Homemade Soup, we like soup when out for a long ride.

    +1 for the Stronachlachar Pier Cafe. Worth a visit to see how it should be done. But the name's impossible!
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,824
    Can you not call your "staff" baristas please? I know it's the proper term and everything, but I just think it's a bit pretentious
  • jedster
    jedster Posts: 1,717
    genuinely friendly staff
  • deptfordmarmoset
    deptfordmarmoset Posts: 3,118
    Doesn't anyone drink tea any more? A big mug or a pot of tea is always my first choice at café stops. (And, this year, I seem to have eaten an awful lot of bread pudding - is it just me, or is it making a comeback?)
    Looking for a cycling buddy?
  • Aggieboy
    Aggieboy Posts: 3,996
    edited September 2009
    NapoleonD wrote:

    Selling little bits like tubes, gels etc.


    Our cake stop on Sunday was to a cafe that sold tubes/repair kits etc, on the counter. They also had a room at the back where they either sold your old kit/bikes etc, for charity or for a small fee.

    You definitely need the ability to serve quite quickly when a large group arrive.
    "There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, t'would be a pity to damage yours."
  • d198594t
    d198594t Posts: 32
    I gotta agree that location is key. You've gotta be near, or preferably on, popular ride routes. The Priory at Scorton in Lancs is a particular favourite of mine.
    Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.
    - Bianchi Via Nirone 2009
    - Ribble Winter/Training + 105
    - Boardman Team Carbon 2009
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    gkerr4 wrote:
    you've all forgotten the most important thing surely?

    "serves excellent coffee".

    Dunno about that - Starbucks have done pretty well without serving even decent coffee.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • gkerr4
    gkerr4 Posts: 3,408
    Rolf F wrote:
    gkerr4 wrote:
    you've all forgotten the most important thing surely?

    "serves excellent coffee".

    Dunno about that - Starbucks have done pretty well without serving even decent coffee.

    this is a good point - although I am actually a starbucks fan. :oops:

    I think as a concept, their 'stores' are excellent and you know what you are getting in terms of quality - a bit pricey right enough - but they seem to "get it right" a lot - the evidence is in the number of outlets they have worldwide!
  • MRadd
    MRadd Posts: 205
    Thank you to all who have posted their ideas! I can't beleive the amount of responses i had! Really chuffed.

    I have all the ideas jotted down now, and will have to begin the process of looking through and seeing which ones fit into my own ideas and where i can explore new avenues.

    Many many thanks...
    : "Why don't i remember breaking my face?" :

    : Semi Professional Grease Monkey, Full time Tea boy... :
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    It should have a white garage door so those without one can take a proper photograph of their bikes.
  • johnboy183
    johnboy183 Posts: 832
    Personally I'd like to see me having a massive discount every time I go in. Sadly I doubt that will happen...Best of luck though
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    According to Twitter, it seems Brad Wiggins has plans to open a bike shop with a cafe inside. Actually, he said he was looking for a name for one in the mould of Mellow Johnny's (Lance's favourite shop) which I understand has a cafe inside.
  • mfin
    mfin Posts: 6,729
    By the time a cafe had become a destination for cyclists if you wanted to brand and concentrate on that specifically then you'll go bust, that's what I think.

    You need to be somewhere with a damn good public footthrough and where competition isnt rife everywhere, so is it enough just to be 'different'? Seeing as we're in England, count up all the midweek quite days, the quite hours of the day, the days when its lashing with rain etc etc. See if you can imagine those and then how you'll be able to recoup all your setting up costs you spent kitting it all out then running and staffing costs on top of that then....

    I don't know what the average spend of a customer is vs particular profit margins on coffees but you've also got wastage to consider with food.

    You've gotta get realistic thats all, all the above considered it might still work. But 'location' is more than just the place it is, if you'd started by saying ..."Ive got this location that's screaming out for a cafe to be opened, I think I might be able to brand and theme it in some cycle-type way without putting off everyone else too"... then it might be different, but still you'd have to be looking very closely at what competition might open in the future and how your location will be affected, new supermarkets drawing people to different locations etc etc etc...

    Of course, if you're bright then all of the above will be pretty obvious, my only real suggestion is have you tried going out of your area and visiting some independent coffee shops and tried striking up conversation with the owners, see what you can gather from them on how hard it is and what to expect?

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