I'm going to open a coffee shop in downtown phoenix any ideas as to what might make it unique?

Question

i want this place to stand out somehow and ive not got many ideas, what sort of things might make a public place like that interesting to you.

Answer 1

-Make it a free wi-fi hotspot.
-Have big comfy club chairs.
-Have it combo'd with a used book store. Oh, good god...I'd die happy there if that happened! (And I live in PHX, too!!)
-Have areas specifically set aside as "quiet only".
-Make people buy the trendier espresso drinks, but have regular house blend type regular coffee SUPER cheap...like $.25 or something. Whatever the bare minimum would be to make a small profit on it.
-Have "mock" drinks for kids on the menu. (without caffiene)
-Have a section set up specifically for kids with a play barista set, plastic food toys, books, miniature versions of the tables and chairs that you use and an area for their parents to sit VERY close by to keep an eye on the rotten little cretins.
-Give a 10%-25% discount to all college students who show their student ID's.
-Stay open 24 hrs.
-Get local authors and musicians to come in once a month for a reading/performance/autograph session.

Just a few ideas.....can you tell that I've thought about the same thing before? When my husband's finished with med school and residency, it's what I want to do back home.

Answer 2

I'm a resort chef who used to work at the Arizona Biltmore not far from you. :) I'm also taking "coffee" shop literally so...

Honestly, even though I no longer live in Arizona, I was born there and can tell you what is sorely lacking there which we have an abundance of in the Bay Area...a diversity of ethnic themed shops which are affordable and offer genuine ambiance-not tourist ambiance.

Try going Brazilian or Jamaican as your theme if you fancy either of those. If not, go with another country which is a coffee producer and feature that coffee and it's culture in your ambiance. Add some native nosh's from whichever country you choose to feature.

One thing downtown Phoenix doesn't need is another coffee shop featuring $10 lattes, sports themed anything, sombreros or Mexican blankets/baskets hanging from the rafters and certainly there's no lack of those kokopelli dealybobs or western googaws.


Good luck! :)

Answer 3

You would want to definitely have a cool factor to it. You would want to put it as the coolest place to hang out or be seen. Special brand of coffee (from out of this world) - green coffee, perhaps? special furniture with mirror flooring - and paid part time waitress to serve in mini skirts? wifi with use of tablet PC for serving internet (Tablet PC are the coolest devices at the moment), have innovative gadgets and devices around the room (sell them to interested buyers). Have the customers make their own coffee! There are some excellent coffee makers in the market.

But if you want to really stand out - open a tea shop instead. This is because the tea culture and history is very rich. There are so many types of tea leaves available, so many types of teapots, etc available and so many rituals involving teas that it would be difficult to exhaust them. Plus, you will probably be the first of such shop in America catering to the masses. China is the next big thing. drinking tea would be pretty cool, I think.

Answer 4

Offer weekly contests with some guts. Give local businesses a chance to promote themselves by offering cool gift certificates as the prizes. Build up good relations with the local media and do press releases about the contest of the week. Building an email list to do the same is also critical. This will give you horsepower to attract the advertisers.

You'll want hi-speed internet for free as well.

Got space for musicians to play?

Make deliveries to local offices that don't have espresso machines and/or pastries in the middle of the day.

Hope you've got a good location, as that will probably have the most to do with your success or failure. Lots of foot traffic and/or nearby offices are critical.

Ditto on the pets idea, have a shop locally that is doing that.

Good luck. I hope you realize what you're getting yourself in to. You're getting ready to religate yourself to working for $6 or less per hour and trying to find good, trustworthy help that will work for the same. Much harder to deal with than it sounds!

Answer 5

Dont sell coffee that would be unique for a coffee shop.

How about putting a webcam up and have an internet broadcast area. Where people can have a snap shot of their outing sent via email. (Giving you a christmas card list of respected clients for bonus offers, buy 1 get 1 free, free coffee with every cake of the day etc)

Answer 6

Maybe a place where people can bring their pets. We just got a new dog, and we love her, but we hate that we cant go any where. I think as long as all health reasons were cleared up, it should be ok. You would have a few bugs to iron out, and maybe some red tape, but I think it would be fun. If I lived in Phoenis, I would go. You could serve both people and animal food, like little cakes and cookies for dogs.

No matter what you do, I hope it works out for the best!

Answer 7

hmm this is interesting. i love a good challenge hah! (i'm thinking about an architecture major) now what would be interesting... is if the coffee shop was made to blend into the outside. your walls would be painted some nice sky color and maybe water fountains, potted plants and outdoor furniture would pull the trick together. seems fun! maybe some relaxing music and a pet bird in a cage to attract customers! sorry if it seems too out there... it was the first thing that came to mind. hope you have fun with it! good luck
-vi900

Answer 8

comfy couches, relaxing colors, maybe put some pillows on the chairs, and how about a bar where you serve the coffee (behind the counter) with high stools so people can drink coffee on the other side? Oh, and square lamp shades that hang low from the cieling.

Answer 9

Yes, transform your coffee shop in a place where democrats could talk about that stupid chimp called Bush.
Put three russian lap dancers.
Cheap alchool.
and a clown like krusty from the simpsons that can take cakes on his face

Answer 10

Find out what the people in the city want. Just sit out on the sidewalk in front of the store and watch the people that walk by and try to talk to some of them. If you find out what your customers want and your business will be a success