Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/28793
Jack’sBlend Jack Groot owns JP’s Coffee in Holland, Mich. He also provides coffee business consulting and training through the Midwest Barista School (MBS). Check out Jack’s new blog, “Jack Groot’s blog — confessions of a coffee shop owner” at www.coffeegroot.com. Jack can be reached at jack@jpscoffee.com with “Jack’s Blend” as the subject line, or at (866) 321-4MBS. F ad: any form of behavior that develops among a large population and is collectively followed with enthusiasm for some period, said to “catch on” when the number of people adopting it begins to increase rapidly. Te behavior fades quickly once the perception of novelty is gone. Trend: a behavior that evolves into a relatively permanent change. Tough the word is sometimes used interchangeably with ‘fad,’ the word ‘fad’ means a fleeting behavior. Speaking of fads… Te ‘60s—American Bandstand, lava lamps, Twister, mood rings, platform shoes, Te Smothers Brothers, sea monkeys, Te Mickey Mouse Club, drive-in theaters, troll dolls, paisley, men wearing beads and GI Joe. Te ‘70s—Lava lamps, muscle cars, Star Wars action figures, CB radios and CB radio sayings (like “breaker, breaker” and “Tat’s a 10-4 good buddy”), Rocky Horror Picture Show, leisure suits and Dorothy Hamill haircuts. Te ‘80s—Atari, legwarmers, Swatch watches, Rubik’s Cube, friendship bracelets, Josie and the Pussycats, mullets and rat tails, Dungeons and Dragons and hanging out at video arcades. Te ‘90s—Pokemon, American Gladiators, Beavis and Butthead, wide- leg jeans, Oprah’s Book Club, pogs, Polly Pocket toys, Mortal Kombat games, Tickle Me Elmo and Slammer Whammers. Te 2000s—Napolean Dynamite, William Hung, Big Mouth Billy Bass, Atkins/low carb diets, Razor scooters, Uggs, pocket bikes, Jared the Subway guy, Napster, U.S. flags on cars and Botox. What seemed critical yesterday may be forgotten tomorrow. Ask the manufacturers of the mood ring, lava lamp, CB radio or pinball machines how many orders they’ve gotten lately…if you can find them. Many of these items seemed important at the moment, but are just a memory today. What does this have to do with coffee? Lots. For example, 10 | April 2011 • www.specialty-coffee.com yesterday I had to chat with a couple of girls in our store who didn’t seem to get it that sitting in a booth with their laptops studying and not making a purchase was not an acceptable option. Years ago this was not an issue, at least not the way it is for shop owners today. Affordable laptops with long battery life and omnipresent Wi-Fi oſten make our store a personal office. “Oh, I need to buy something??” What about coffee as a product? We know that auto- drip coffee has stood the test of time, served in virtually all locations that sell coffee. Restaurants, cafes, gas stations, offices and coffee shops have built their business on the auto-drip brewing method. But recently, brew-by-the-cup (BBTC)— something that has existed for decades—has seemingly taken the industry by storm. Is this a long-term shiſt in the public’s mindset on how coffee should be enjoyed? Does it signify a shiſt in what customers want? Or is it a coffee geek’s passion, self indulgent to the core? Your view on these questions will have a direct impact on your business: If you offer BBTC, how do you adapt your store layout to maximize sales? Will you add the labor-intensive pourover, or spend money on a Bunn Trifecta or two? Do you eliminate auto-drip brewing as on option or serve both? If you sell whole bean coffee, do you offer customers the option to choose from all of your coffees or just a few? For some coffee shops BBTC makes perfect sense and fits with who they are, for other businesses not so much. Is it possible that BBTC is a fad? Tat it will be unable to make the leap to the mainstream and be relegated to a narrow slice of the coffee industry? Or will the coffee buying public’s idea of coffee be so altered by the experience of BBTC that they demand a shiſt in the industry and any coffee retailer failing to offer it as an option will soon be leſt behind? I’m not sure yet, but I do know this: If I hire the right people, train them well, serve great coffee (however I make it) in a great atmosphere, maintain profitability and keep a smile on my face everyday, I can take my time evaluating whether or not BBTC is a fad or a trend. And JP’s will be here in business either way. SCR