Car service constitutes most of the business at this Java Heaven in Yakima, Wash.
Drive-thru service can boost
business—if it's properly matched to the location and shop concept.
BY PAN DEMETRAKAKES
establishments. In car-centric areas, in locations with high vehicular traffi c, they can be a great way to connect with customers. "If you have a good-looking drive-thru that's fairly visible,
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you're probably, without doing hardly any marketing, going to get 1 percent of the [drivers] stopping in," says Bruce Milletto, head of coff ee consulting fi rm Bellissimo Coff ee InfoGroup. When a tiny shop that mostly consisted of two drive-thru
windows became available in Yakima, Wash., Keith Taylor didn't hesitate. Th ere's a small window in back for walk-ups, but almost all of Java Heaven's business comes from customers in the cars that pull up on either side. "Effi ciency and speed are the big things," Taylor says. "We
really learned how to get people in and out in 60 seconds if they have one drink, and there's a trick to that."
ould a drive-thru get things rolling at your coff ee shop? Drive-thru windows are a staple of many foodservice
On the other hand, drive-thru windows are no panacea,
as Ryan Wanner found out. He closed the drive-thru at R&R Coff ee Café, his shop in Colorado Springs, Colo., about fi ve months ago. It just wasn't doing enough business to justify the space it was taking up in his shop, which includes a roastery, full bakery and full kitchen—all in less than 1,000 square feet. "Th e drive-up was starting to aff ect the roasting operations
badly, and we were unable to justify keeping the drive up open for 7 percent of our daily sales when it was negatively impacting 55 percent of our sales because we weren't able to keep up on the roasting," Wanner says. His experience illustrates how the decision on off ering
drive-thru service goes to the heart of a coff eehouse's identity. If you're going for the high-volume, quick-hit commuter crowd, drive-thru service can be a vital component. But if your business depends on catering to connoisseurs who are aware of the fi ne points of specialty coff ee (or creating those
December 2011 • www.specialty-coffee.com | 19
