Five Points Coffee and Spice sent this out on Facebook, and I thought I'd bring it to the attention of folks here. Hope they don't mind. I really like this little place and would hate to see Starbucks put another independent coffee house out of business, especially one with as much character as this one.
QuoteOne Cup a Week
The Coffee Shop had a close call and many friends pulled together to help but with the state of the economy in our country today the shop is still in danger. Many have asked what can I do? This page is in response to that question. The shop has over 1500 friends on facebook. What is needed is for those friends to make the commitment to buy one cup of coffee a week from Five Points Coffee & Spice Co. If you can buy more, or have your lunch or dinner there or invite a friend or friends that's even better. But at the minimum the shop needs to sell 1500 cups of coffee a week to keep it's doors open. PLEASE DO NOT just click 'like" on this page as we all do on so many other pages. This page is only for those who are willing and able to make the commitment of One Cup a Week. Will you make the commitment to help keep a locally owned and operated business, one that is loved by our community, open and operating in our community? If you will please click "like" and then when you buy your One Cup a Week please post to the wall here with "I bought mine, how about You?" Thank You for your continued love and support!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/One-Cup-a-Week/107385182701435 (https://www.facebook.com/pages/One-Cup-a-Week/107385182701435)
Ehhh, I'm not wild about that- it's a business, they shouldn't be begging for money or insisting that customers do anything. And really, isn't this all a bit much? They're asking for what- 250 customers a day?
Thats a lot of coffee to sell a week just to keep the doors open. I wonder why every coffee shop in this space ultimately fails within the first year? What's the rent??
I'd gladly go there once a week to keep them in business. I mostly do anyway because I like the vibe & some of their food is actually pretty decent. I do think the cafes in this space however have sorta half-assed their coffees though. The guy before them (Scribes I believe it was called) didn't have a clue what he was doing. He was using some pre-ground canned garbage.
And while I dig FP Coffee & Spice, let's face it, they don't take it too serious either. They brew with a Mr Coffee for god sake (yes, like the kind you get at Wal-Mart for $20).
I'm just saying, all these places need to up their game if they wanna stay in business & compete with places like Starbucks. Its not enough to just "not be Starbucks", you have to be better than them. On price, on quality & on seriousness. I don't get that vibe anywhere here to be honest.
I do believe however that the new Bold Bean cafe will be bringing some real heat with them when they open this fall. They seem like they've got it together.
on anothe thread, someone pointed out that this place sells coffee for much less than a certain place in Springfield....and now we see the results of that policy.
The price of coffee doesn't really directly reflect on how successful a business is. McDonald's coffee is cheaper, are they about to go out of business?
Like peestandingup said, they have bigger issues is they need that much money per week just to survive. I've been there twice, the place is nice, the people are friendly but I don't think they really have the drive and focus they need. So many people have started coffee shops thinking it's a cheap and easy way to make money only to realize they're failing horribly because they didn't have the capital and funding to be starting a business in the first place. This facebook post reeks of "Oh my god, what do we do now?" and that is not how you present yourself to potential customers. They could be charging $4 per cup and I'd imagine they'd still be failing.
Quote from: tufsu1 on September 19, 2011, 09:02:54 PM
on anothe thread, someone pointed out that this place sells coffee for much less than a certain place in Springfield....and now we see the results of that policy.
Dumb.
QuoteI'm just saying, all these places need to up their game if they wanna stay in business & compete with places like Starbucks. Its not enough to just "not be Starbucks", you have to be better than them. On price, on quality & on seriousness. I don't get that vibe anywhere here to be honest.
Seriously, the sweepings off the Maxwell House Coffee plant floor are better than Startbucks, and the janitor serving it to you would be more engaged and charge you a lot less.
I've rewritten this post a few times now. I'll keep it simple. How can anyone compare Starbucks, McDonalds, or another chain to a small mom and pop coffee house? They are not in the same category. Period.
I believe strongly in supporting local businesses, the mom and pop kind. That said, I have to watch my finances too and can only buy local (which is sometimes more expensive) when my budget allows.
Truth is, if I were a coffee drinker (I'm not) I am certain I'd have to brew that Mr. Coffee at home each morning. I'd be broke otherwise! Even if I did buy it at McDonald's, 7-Eleven, wherever. LOL.
thanks Stephen...actually I got a note on Facebook a few weeks ago, so I do know some of the story....but (in relation to the other thread) you know as well as I do that a coffee shop isn't going to survive on $3 cups of coffee with free refills.
ok, I know nothing of the food business (btw, for the 30th time, I'm not an engineer)...so please explain to me and everyone else how a coffee shop makes ends meet while providing unlimited free refills?
Went by there tonight. Looks like they've closed & moved all of their stuff out.
They closed a couple of weeks ago, I think.
Yeah, Alva's decided to run a hotdog cart and run coffee out of Hammerhall Game Hall. Stop by and see him there.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stray-Dogs-Concessions/298989180117311
Alva's food was very good. Perhaps his marketing plan should include something that says so like diner or restaurant. I don't go look for a good meal when I'm out of town at a coffee stand.
Just chiming in here.
The Coffee we used was an organic local roast, and $2 a cup got you one refill. Just claiming that we did unlimited refills for the wrong price shows a complete lack of knowledge on the subject.
During the last few weeks, the $600 commercial Bunn machine we used needed a $300 repair, hence the Mr Coffee.
We did not run for 3 years on a plastic coffee maker, it was an emergency back-up machine.
If you think the business failed due to me doing things "half -assed", you were obviously not a regular customer.
When I closed, I made sure every one that worked there had a job to replace the one they were losing.
I opened during one of the worst financial times in our nation's history, in a neighborhood where businesses are dropping like flies, and I did it with $800 cash and no investors, loans, or other capital.
Try that yourself, keep it going for three years. You'll walk out with your head up, like I did.
Every day I get someone that tells me what I should do, or change, that would make me more money. Usually that person has never owned a business, and doesn't have the resources or skills to start and run a lemonade stand. I usually ask them what successful business they own, and they walk away.With their head down.
For those here that did support the shop, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are genuinely appreciated. And missed. Alva
^I'm guessing some of that was directed at me since I made the comments about the Mr Coffee & the overall half-assed nature of the product. I apologize if I upset you in any way, that certainly wasn't my intention & I respect the difficulties you must have went through to stay in business for any length of time. I myself probably couldn't do it.
That being said, I don't think its a fair assesment to say that if people in general (esp your customers) haven't owned a business then they should just keep their mouths shut. These people were probably from all walks of life, travels, etc. And maybe, just maybe, you could have benifited from perhaps opening your ears a bit & taking some advice along the way. Not always mind you, I understand everyone has an opinion & not all of them are good ones, but still. You're in the public realm & are serving that public. Some humility, instead of bitterness, is probably due here in hindsight.
Regarding the coffee. Yes, it was half-assed. Again, thats not to offend you, but it was. I understand the beans themselves were from a local roaster. And as good as that roaster is, not a good cup does it automatically make. You can have the best beans in the world, but if you screw up the brewing then it doesn't matter anyway. And I'm sorry, but a Bunn coffee maker isn't exactly on a level that exudes quality. Even the low end shops don't even use those. But you may however find them in a gas station or while waiting on your car to get finished at an oil changing place.
Not only does it seem you went in without a basic understanding of the product you were selling, but were also unwilling to learn. I understand the shoestring budget part, and respect that a lot actually. That's a hell of an accomplishment. But still, there's ways to do these things on the product end that would have upped your game a ton & wouldn't have required expensive equipment at all (using manual pour-over cones, french presses, etc) that would have maybe cost you $100-$200 in supplies.