I'm part of a new, small coffee shop in Sherwood, OR. Well, new in a way. We bought out the previous owners and kept the name but changed everything else. THAT decision aside, most of our current customers drink flavored lattes, smoothies, iced te
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Yesterday Facebook quietly announced the death of Facebook Places. Rolled out a year ago, partly in competition with Foursquare, Gowalla and other geo-location apps, Places eventually was only adopted by about 6% of Facebook u
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Location, location, location.
What if your cafe location is wrong?
One of the most important criteria in the foodservice industry is putting your business in a strategic location. Old school restaurant startup consultants will gather as much data
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One of the easiest ways for a cafe to stretch it's purchasing dollar is by putting food up, or preserving. At this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, the bounty of the season is readily apparent, not only at farmer's ma
Read more…I have heard it is not legal to charge customers an extra fee when they use their credit/debit card ( basically passing on the fee that the bank charges me.) i also though have heard that there was a lawsuit that hanged this in the last year i have
Read more…Any owners around here selling grinders in your stores? I have carried Bodum in the past, but the price point is too high and the quality not quite what I have in mind. The Baratza stuff is obviously great, but a bit too expensive for the small-city
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I've been to a number of coffee events the last few years and always pay attention to the details when I visit shops or trade events. I've noticed some trends in the barista apparel scene, ranging from spiffy old-school sweater vests and funky hats,
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There's an old adage in the restaurant industry about where your customers come from. It's the Ten Block Rule.
The Ten Block Rule states that 80% of your customer base comes from a ten square block area around your business.
Read more…I currently manage and am head barista at a cafe/coffee house in SoCal. Though we are in a heavily populated area, our community is very Main Street when it comes to coffee. They've all been raised on Starbucks basically. In the past 6-7 months, we'v
Read more…If you have a fridge where customers can reach in a purchase bottled water, sodas, etc, which brands do you have? We currently sell Pellegrino, Fiji and Boylan's in our case but I'd like to add a juice element. As much as I love Nantucket Nectar, I w
Read more…Just like buying a PC and having it outdated within a year or so, I fear spending a huge chunk of a money on a point-of-sale system, only having it be obsolete in a short period and then turning around and having to buy a newer, more expensive system
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Social media for foodservice and coffeeshops has exploded in the past two years. Is your business taking advantage of thiseffective communication tool to reach customers and buildbrand loyalty?
For the cost of a few hours a
Read more…I come from a land of no bakery besides what is at the grocery or a large company outfit. I would like to make the leap toward hiring on a baker and opening a kitchen, but don't know if a few good slices of heaven are worth the investment in this eco
Read more…There's a good question posted over on Focus.com. Thought I'd copy it into the BX community..
LINK HERE http://www.focus.com/questions/why-dunkin-donuts-going-public-now-after-61-years-business/
Read more…Just a little something I've been thinking about recently. I hope not to ignite any kind of flame war because I know, first hand, how intense things can get on here, just please, bear with me.
I am a self-professed music nerd, movie nerd, political
Read more…Our shop is high volume and we're currently brewing 3 gallons per tea at a time. We need to upgrade to 5 gallons to keep up with volume.
We'd like to brew a concentrate and then dilute it to order. I've never had to do this on such a large scale.
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I am opening a self serve frozen yogurt/coffee bar and looking for suggestions for start up menu. I plan to offer a somewhat limited number of menu items. What would be the top ten drinks that I should not even consider leaving out?
Read more…I announced at work this morning that I am going to leave my job the beginning of August in order to pursue my dream of opening a socially conscious coffee shop. It's exciting and I have done lots of training and planning in preparation for this even
Read more…Great article this morning from the L.A. Times Baghdad bureau. The cultural role of a professional coffee server in Iraq society (a barista without a bar): http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-coffee-20110704,0,709469.story .
Read more…So I recently posted a thread on whole milk only and what to use as our non-dairy option. You should check it out...there is some good stuff on there. However, what I want to know here specifically is what does everyone use for non-dairy option. S
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