Small-town/Rural Coffee Shop

[bronzebear]

I was recently deeded a turn of the century building in a small midwestern town (pop. 4,000) that is revitalizing its downtown. I am putting in a coffee shop and was wondering if there were any small town shop owners on this forum and if they might have any advice. I've worked in big city coffee shops but this is a new experience for me. There is currently no full-service coffee shop in town and the closest Starbucks is forty miles away. Thank you!

 

[eldub]

The small towns in the Midwestern state where we are located are pretty much dying. I would think long and hard before sinking any money into a coffee shop in a rural setting in the Midwest. Farmers aren't looking for "fancy" coffee, in general.

Unless you can make ends meet on a shop doing a low volume of sales I would think twice before sinking any money in this venture. Location is everything. It sounds to me like this location fell into your lap and you are now trying to figure out what to do with it, rather than finding a great place to set up shop.

 

[bronzebear]

Thank you for the reply! I have created a simple menu for this reason and we are offering bakery items like bread puddings and kolaches (popular, here.) We're also doing specialty iced teas.

I didn't mean to indicate that the location was bad & probably should have been more specific. The shop is located one block from the courthouse where festivals and concerts take place, a replica pioneer village, a historical museum, strange taxidermy museum, two hotels, and a theater. It is all very walkable. & there are two busy restaurants- one hip tapas place and a greasy spoon diner.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

My shop is in town of about 10,000 people but I am middle of business district where people do come from out of town. I am the only coffee shop other then ice cream shop down the road from me.
If you have good location, I would consider opening but like eldub said, you have to have some type of customer base to bringing in enough to survive.

Tell me more about the town and situation. Your surrounding. Type of rent and expense you are expecting etc.....

 

[eldub]

It sounds like you might get some visitors in the neighborhood, which should help.

Good luck with your venture.

lw

 

[bronzebear]

We also have an ice cream shop around the corner! The town is half the size of your town. We are right in the center of downtown. We will be the only place serving coffee and tea. & the only place in town with free wi-fi. We won't have any rent or mortgage as the building was donated to us. Our fixed expenses will be utilities which will be covered by the rent we charge for office space, insurance, taxes, wi-fi. Part of our capital will cover renovations. We will take a small loan out to purchase appliances- everything used besides the espresso machine and grinders.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

We also have an ice cream shop around the corner! The town is half the size of your town. We are right in the center of downtown. We will be the only place serving coffee and tea. & the only place in town with free wi-fi. We won't have any rent or mortgage as the building was donated to us. Our fixed expenses will be utilities which will be covered by the rent we charge for office space, insurance, taxes, wi-fi. Part of our capital will cover renovations. We will take a small loan out to purchase appliances- everything used besides the espresso machine and grinders.

That is great situation.
You already have some possible customer base.

Where are are you going to get your coffee?
Are you planning on roasting your own or purchase from someone.

Who is doing the build out? Yourself or are you going to hire someone or company.

Are you going to have full service coffee shop or small restaurant with coffee.

have you talk to locals and see what they say about your idea of having a coffee shop?

Those are few questions I can think of.
I will add later when I can come up with more.

 

[bronzebear]

I am having a tough time deciding on a coffee roaster. I have a very strong allegiance to my hometown coffee roaster in Milwaukee- Colectivo (formerly Alterra.) But I also want to support a semi-local roaster either in Oklahoma or Texas. I don’t have any plans to roast my own.


We are doing everything minus HVAC, electrical and plumbing. For now we will stick to coffee and local bakery items. There is however an older kitchen already part of the building, so we have the space if we decide to do sandwiches. We have talked to locals and this was their number one request- a bright clean place with wi-fi and coffee. It’s also currently a “dry county” or you cannot buy liquor by the drink. A repeal is currently on the ballot and will be voted on in November. Once that goes we hope to offer wine by the glass, too.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Very interesting.

I would visit few roasters and see what they offer. Don't settle on the best priced coffee but post up some of the roasters here and maybe we can give you some feed back.

Having a kitchen is a plus. You will benefit from it. Don't try to do too much but make it clean and open. Don't try to cover everything but clean and put wall hangings like local artist paintings, pictures and photo to hide imperfection.

LIke you have stated above, buy everything used but espresso machine and grinder.
Make sure you have enough storage, extra fridge, freezer and small office you can lock up.

Let us know if you have anymore questions.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Living in Milwaukee for the last 30 years, I have a lot of respect for Collectivo. I've like several of their coffees, even if I like mine more...

For you, it's about who will give you the best beans, as that's what your success will rest on, along w/ other things obviously. Like CoffeeJunky says, visit a few roasters, get some samples of various beans from each, and see what you think. Loyalty to a roaster is great, but that may not actually translate into what your customers can appreciate or help to grow your business.

 

[Chopper]

bronzebear,

I'm also in a similar situation in an old building that I recently bought in my hometown.
We have a small (300 ft2) active post office outlet, along with Post Master, that has 800 post box customers.(has been active since 1832)
We are currently selling Coffee, Tea, espresso based drinks and locally produced food items.
our opening schedule forced us to launch with our ice cream shop 1st and we followed up with the coffee bar, which opened Sept. 2013.

We are fortunate that we partnered up with an outstanding artisanal ice cream producer, that affords us the ability to combine our ice creams and coffee's together in the winter season.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Every situation is different.
With low over head and knowing what people want, you will be able to create something special.

 

[bronzebear]

Very cool about the artisanal ice cream. The ice cream shop near us is not artisanal, it is seasonal, which is kind of strange to me considering we are basically located in a desert climate- it doesn't get cold here. I worked at a deli that had a cafe and a juice bar so I feel like down the line we might could offer some fresh juices. We may have to really ease into that with the small-town but they are really surprisingly craving some coffee culture, etc.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

go for it. But remember, this is not going to make very comfortable living but it will bring enough to survive. Try to do the math. How many cups you have to sell per day to break even. And see how much you can make after. My shop does around 250-400 cups a day. And it brings enough for one family to make living.

 

[SmallTownCoffeeRoastersNC]

My dad and I are getting ready to open up a shop in a small town in Western NC. He's buying a building with cash and will be living in a ~600 sq. ft. apartment attached to the shop. We too have an ice cream shop in town and see a lot of courthouse traffic. It's an old mill town that was decimated by NAFTA in the 1990s so there are a lot of empty buildings, but there are also some new businesses opening up and the town council is trying to be more progressive. We'll be roasting our own beans in a vintage AJ Deer Royal No.1 roaster that we are restoring. We'll also have baked goods from folks in the community and an outdoor sculpture garden. Hopefully this thread will stay active so the small town shops can compare notes .

Best of luck to my small town brethren!

Monte