Hi all. So here is our story, looking for any input which would help lead us to success.
We just opened a second location for our coffee shop concept. Our first shop is going into its eigth year and it has steadily increased year over year and has good solid numbers at this point. I should also say we are roasting coffee in this location so our product is really fresh while at the same time lowering our cogs which is a double win. We finally found a (what we think to be) a good second location. We have been open for 10 days now, yesterday was our official grand opening with our soft opening occuring the week before. We are located in a downtown business district with a residential community just off the business district blocks.
On one corner there is a successful starbucks which has been there for about 5 years, on the other corner is saxby's with us situated right in between and across the street. Both sides get ample foot traffic and we happen to bve on the side of the street where a commuter train line sits.
After going through the first 10 days we are seeing more and more regulars and I am paying close attention to customer reactions when they try our drinks. The reaction has been really really positive once they are here and trying our product so the trend is good I just want to see it happen quicker of course. I am trying to break the daily habit that people are used to with going to the other two shops. One challenge we have is the fact that our business concept is pretty much counter service, so we only have 4-6 indoor seats and do not have a public restroom. in the summer we can put out another 2-4 bistro tables. The other two shops have extensive indoor seating and restrooms.
I would like to hear any thoughts, input on my current situation as I laid it out on how best to deal with this challenge as well as the competion we face. At this point I am extremely confident in the quality of our offerings as well as our focus on customer service it just seems like breaking old habits is my biggest challenge as well as our indoor limitations.
Any and all thoughts are appreciated.
My best,
Nick
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