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/41387
Handling the holidays From new menu items to dressing up statues, how five coffeehouses across the country deal with the holiday season for fun and profit. BY PETER SUROWSKI For some businesses, holidays are a challenge. They bring cold weather, slow foot traffic and an exodus of regulars. Other coffeehouse entrepreneurs see opportunity. After all, the season also brings holiday bonuses, lists of gifts to buy and lots of vacation time for many customers. Here's how some coffeehouse pros seize the reins of the holiday season and steer it toward profit. MIDWEST The Java House Iowa City, Iowa The Java House in Iowa City, Iowa, has a subtle way to make sure customers who buy gifts there come back. For every $25 gift card sold, they give away an extra $5 card. "That works out really well for us," says Nicole Millard, the shop's operations manager. The extra gift card not only encourages the giver to buy the gift card, but also to come back to spend their own card. holidays, their average customer becomes a gift giver. WEST COAST Polly's Gourmet Coffee Long Beach, Calif. Gifts are big business around the holidays, so Polly's Gourmet Coffee stays stocked on knickknacks for coffee lovers. It stacks its shelves with Melitta drip brewers, AiroPress espresso makers and gift packs with the shop's freshly roasted beans and a grinder. "These do really well," says Josh Teran, the shop's manager, as he pours a batch of beans from his Probat 1929 30-pound roaster. "People really like to buy (coffee) pounds and gift cards." Every holiday season, the shop gets Nicole Millard prepares an espresso at the Java House. "It's an incentive to buy gifts, and it entices people to spend more than they normally would," Millard said. The 18-year-old coffeehouse sits in the city's downtown area up the street from a popular pedestrian mall. The three-room, 40-table shop takes up a suite in a historic red-brick building. The antique furniture and tiffany-style lamps add to the historic feel. Many of her customers are students from the University of Iowa, but around the in a few new items—this season, it was a collapsible single-cup drip brewer. Last season, it was a reusable, transparent cold drink cup. Teran reorders the items that sell and stops carrying the others. Polly's is in a good location for selling gifts. It's in a strip mall on Second Street in Long Beach's upscale Belmont Shore neighborhood. The area is a magnet for shoppers looking to break from cookie- cutter stores and opt for the boutiques and independently owned eateries sitting just a few blocks away from the beach. Polly's, which has three tables, two couches and a 10-table patio, opened in 1976, and the hard wood counters, trim and fixtures are worn, giving it a warm, aged look. 36 | September 2011 • www.specialty-coffee.com The shelves of Polly's Gourmet Coffee, Long Beach, Calif., are stacked with coffee-related gift items for the holidays. Teran offered a tip: cheaper items sell better than expensive ones these days, because higher-end items are so readily accessible. "We've moved away from (big ticket) gift wares," he said. "Even Target sells an espresso machine." THE SOUTH Green Bean Greensboro, N.C. Zeke Vantrese, the general manager of Green Bean, keeps locals coming back with his popular holiday lattes. Once a year, he puts a few new drinks on