Just opened coffee shop - Check out my blog

[kcooley]

I just wanted to invite you all to check out my new blog. I've been open 11 weeks! I wanted to find a way to share my experiences and the ups and downs of business. It's not all about the coffee biz, since half my store is a yogurt bar, but I think it's relevant nonetheless.
berriblends.blogspot.com

 

[PinkRose]

Hello Kristen,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums.

I looked at your blog this morning, and it certainly seems like you had quite an adventure opening your shop!

Is your store called Berriblends?

I'm curious. Which part is bringing in the most business so far....the coffee bar or the yogurt bar?

Again, welcome. And I hope 2009 is a great year for you!

Rose

 

[kcooley]

Hi! Yes our store is called BerriBlends. You can check out our site at www.berriblends.com to get a feel for what we do. Originally, I thought our big seller would be specialty coffee/espresso, but it turns out it has been mostly yogurt. I'd say about 80/20 yogurt. I think there are a couple reasons. First, our name sounds like a smoothie/yogurt bar. Also, the colors of our logo and our interior colors are all bright and not as subdued as coffee bars normally are. The other thing is, I know people are cutting back on coffee purchases right now. Also, we do not have a drive-thru. In order to boost sales we've started a call ahead program and we've been giving out business card sized fliers (with menu printed on back side) to a) show people we do more than just yogurt and b) show them we can be fast even without a drive-thru.

That's been working fairly well, but I'd say, I think it would be a tough road for anyone trying to open a coffee shop right now. We are not hitting break-even (as I'm sure you gathered through my blog) but we are a lot closer than we would be if we were just coffee.