Opening in a couple weeks - advice please...

kcooley

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Sep 20, 2008
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Richmon, TX
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Hi! We are about to open a frozen yogurt (think pinkberry) and espresso cafe. This is our first time owning anything retail and we are excited and a bit nervous, of course. :)

We plan on doing a soft-open utilizing now open banners and 5K door hangers. We have already started marketing through word-of-mouth and are utilizing coming soon signs. We will also do a huge grand opening a couple weeks later, with another 5k door hangers, ribbon cutting through the chamber, sign holders on the street, and a \"carnival\". (About 80% of our nearby homes have young children.) We will distribute coupons and fliers to local businesses, schools (for the froyo), and gyms (froyo and smoothies).

We have loyalty cards ready to go and a POS system with which I can track customers and send emails (only periodically, of course) through.

I''ve been contemplating branding some travel mugs and possibly offering free coffee for the month (or something similar) with purchase of mug. Question - Would a deal like that cut into my more profitable espresso drink sales?

There are no coffee shops nearby, so right now everyone is getting coffee from the next door donut shop. Question - Other than having superior coffee... does anyone have any advice on how to compete with a donut shop. I know the kids are begging for donuts on saturday morning...

Regarding baked goods/sweets, what have you seen sell the best? Right now, my list is biscotti, brownies, cheesecake, croissants, danishes, muffins, and cream puffs (for a small sweet). Any suggestions?

Just a thought, has anyone ever had a \"coffee club\"? Customer pays x amount of $ and gets unlimited drip coffee for the month. I don''t know...

I would also greatly appreciate any random advice that you may have for someone who is a couple weeks away from opening.

Thanks to all you veterans!
 
Scone?

We are a coffee shop / bakery / cafe. We sell a lot of muffins, but also a lot of scones. Also, cinnamon rolls, caramel rolls, cookies, and then bars, etc. But I would include scones in your list. There are a lot of bad muffins, scones, etc. out there, so see if you can find a good bakery to supply you.
 
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