coffee & alcohol or liquors

[jenandnaomi]

Hello all! I am an interior designer beginning to plan a coffee bar serving alcohol/coffee (high end liquors no beer or wine) drinks. I havn't seen too many posts regarding this subject. Do you feel it draws different crowds or conflicts with the "traditional" feel of a coffee shop ...or is this a growing trend that hasn't been embraced fully? Have any of you added alcoholic drinks to your menu? Is it worth it in sales to go for a liquor license?

 

[espressomaniac]

I guess

you might want to scour the web for forums and recipies dealing with this, it's not a bad idea, and in fact, many traditional restaurants will serve liquer based coffee drinks, but of course they have the licence to cover the lounge and the selection is rather sparce.

I know what you are thinking, and it's not a bad idea, you are basically wanting to open a bar with more of a coffee flavor to it, which in turn should bring in the coffee crowd as opposed to the bar flies which normally establish similar establishments. I like the upscale type of mentality with an operation like that and it's going to draw in a very pleasent target market.

As for the business plan, the primary purpose of it is to get what you have in your head as an idea and make it a working plan. Take everything one step at a time, you likely will have to address each issue out of place based upon any generic business plan format, but that's part of getting your own ship afloat. This is a site I reccomend for people that are writing their first one: http://www.bplans.com they even have a free generic plan for people that want to start a kiosk, so it's right up your alley.

Anyway, good idea, go whith an upscale/traditional theme and don't be afraid to do even more then just coffee drinks, just keep your vision in tact and don't be tempted by the quick buck, if you do it right, you'll own a very lucrative operation.

 

[phaelon56]

The type of crowd you'll draw and the kind of scene you're likely to have will vary in part depending on how close you are to a "party area". If the location is in or adjacent to the sort of entertainment district that many small to mid sized and larger cities have (e.g. the Flats in Cleveland, LoDo in Denver, Buckhead in Denver etc) you may get the spillover of a rowdy and boisterous crowd but not as intensely as the bars do because by nature a coffeehouse that sells liquor will draw a perhaps more cerebral, more mature and quieter patron.

Best bet is to visit a Cosi's location in NYC, Philly or DC that is already deploying this exact concept quite successfully. I'm not sure that all Cosi's do it but there should be at least one in every major Northeast city that's set up this way. The one I'm familiar with in NYC is on Broadway at the corner of 13th Street across from the Regal 14 Cineplex.

 

[topher]

I sold booze in my last location...it kicked ass!! Nice to the average check too...we where selling them for $9 per drink...you would be suprised how many people would order Baileys in the morning.... :shock: