Independent coffee house (Dallas, Fort Worth, Grapevine: for sale, houses, buying)

[hopeinaus]

I am working on a business plan for an independent, family friendly coffeehouse for the Fort Worth area. Very community focused, very family focused (toys for the kids, etc.) As you may know from my previous threads, we just moved here from Australia and have settled in the TCU area.

But....

There does not seem to be very many independent coffee shops in the area (TCU/Berkeley/Etc). Is there a reason for this? Have independent coffeeshops tried and failed?

I read about the new one opening on Magnolia, so that is promising.

I am in the very early stages of the plan, so please give me any feedback/thoughts - positive or negative.

[loves2read]

in my area--Hurst/Colleyville--there have been two independent coffee places that I know of that have opened in past 2 yrs or so
one was on corner of Harwood and Precinct Line Rd--BUSY corner--block from TCJC Northwest and WalMart--and it had sort of religious theme--it closed when Precinct Line was under construction for so long--access was VERY restricted--
other one was drive-through coffee shop on Hwy 26 north of Cheek Sparger--lots of traffic but there is Starbuck's located less than half mile to north--

I think you REALLY have to know your demographics and KNOW how to run a business--plus haven't I read that the cost of coffee beans is become high so your source material is going to be inflated because you have to buying leverage like a large corp does...(if that would be a factor)

[ChristieP]

I think the family-friendly thing would turn off some potential customers. Coffee houses tend to have a lot of business people who come in during the day and use the WiFi with their laptops and they seek a somewhat quiet environment. I would think that the TCU area would attract more students than families, except maybe in the mid-mornign when the students are in class.

The one on Precinct Line was good, but as loves2read said, the construction made it impossible for them to get customers.

We have Buon Giorno in Grapevine and it is really popular with the business crowd during the week, and with bike clubs on the weekends. They make good coffees! Buon Giorno Coffee - Welcome

[Pontificator]

I would welcome this wholeheartedly! Lived in AK for a number of years and this became part of my uplifting and calming culture!! We had a terrific local shop that was just THE place.....and welcomed folks of all ages. Business meetings took place, volunteer groups, writers groups, students studying, local musicians, art for sale, families playing board games and good music on the radio. The coffee was burned on occasion, but the ambience brought people in, time and again.

[hopeinaus]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I hope to build a place as Pontificator describes, but agree with Christie that it will drive some folks away. Interested in hearing from some Moms - would you take your child to a kid friendly coffee shop? How often would you go?

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I took my 4 and 6 y/o granddaughters to a Starbucks when I lasted visited the Dallas area. It was night but they were well-behaved, not noisy. I have been at Starbucks with people who brought their children, also well-behaved and not noisy. If I were to run into noisy kids, playing around, I would not be pleased and would take my business elsewhere.

[hypocore]

To me it somewhat contradicts the general idea of a coffee house to encourage kids there. However, I must qualify that with I don't drink coffee, nor do I frequent any coffee houses, so it doesn't really matter to me. haha

Both my older daughters are teachers. One spends time on occasion at the local starbucks either tutoring or meeting for planning with other teachers. The other meets friends on occasion at another. I know they would definitely not like it if there were many kids around most especially if they were anything other than quiet. All day spent with kids does not lend itself well to seeing many more when they want to be somewhere quiet and relaxed.

[lunebloc]

I thought it would be helpful to tell you why I didn't patronize an independent coffee shop very close to me on Camp Bowie in the Ridglea Village. I would have loved to buy coffee from them more often instead of Starbucks, but they didn't open until 7am. I thought that was so crazy not to open early enough to catch commuters! They went out of business after about a year, and I thought surely it had something to do with their morning hours.

[lunebloc]

Originally Posted by hopeinaus

Thanks for the comments everyone! I hope to build a place as Pontificator describes, but agree with Christie that it will drive some folks away. Interested in hearing from some Moms - would you take your child to a kid friendly coffee shop? How often would you go?

I probably would not to take my kid to a coffee shop. I would go to a coffee shop to have a relaxing drink with friends and unwind.

[loves2read]

there is coffee house called Roots in the new strip shopping center off Hwy 26 and Cannon in NRHills--
saw it today when I stopped at Firehouse Subs
have no clue as to who goes to it

have YOU gone to any of the Starbucks or others in the area to check out the type of clientel?

think that you need a strip center that is located in walkable area if you want moms to come with kids--
that way they can walk there--take a break--and walk back and feel good about taking the kids outside...