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I must have iced coffee in the summer months. Ample and comfortable seating. Outdoor space is a huge draw in my community.

ditto the wireless internet

i'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but i'm intensely loyal to my local espresso place because they give punch cards. i will delay getting my coffee or go out of my way to go there because they will give me a free coffee after ten punches.

what i want is great coffee and non stratospheric prices and a place to sit. it would be wonderful if there were a cell free zone, but you can't have everything.

When you list sandwiches, salads, and baked goods...are these pre-wrapped with a label stuck on 'em or made there? Well, I guess I don't expect the baked goods to be made there...

I love drinking Italian soda (with cream) and eating a freshly made sandwich. I usually pass up the wrapped sandwiches because they always have onions in them. Whoever I'm with typically has coffee and pound cake.

Being that it's in a library, I suppose little gifts probably won't be what people will be thinking of when they walk in. The coffeehouses near where I live always have interesting things (not gawdy) as gifts, like unique mugs and cups, tea accessories, etc.

Fresh roasted coffee beans that are no more than 10 - 14 days past roast date. Drip coffee offerings that include single origin varietals form specific coops and farms rather than generic varietals. Press pot coffee on request or drip by the cup on request (e.g. made with a Melitta one cup cone.

China cups available for on premise drink consumption.

Espresso shots that are ground by the shot and properly pulled in the 23 - 28 second range on a clean, properly maintained machine. Use of an espresso blend that is not oily, burnt or overly dark but instead has a good balance of flavors from the beans and not the roast. Plenty of good rich crema on the shots

Milk that is properly microfoamed for a smooth velvety texture that melds perfectly with the espresso.

Everything else I can compromise on if the quality of the coffee and espresso is up to par.

I love the china cups suggestion. Costs you more I'm sure, with dishwashing etc, but makes for a much, much nicer experience.

No mention of teas being offered, do you plan on having any? I only drink coffee at night (go figure) so when I somehow find myself at a coffee shop during the day I want a good green tea, without any weird new agey mint or lemongrass flavors. Just straight up Japanese green tea. My favorite brand is Harney and Sons, their Sencha in the silk sachet is awesome. Otherwise, good hot chocolate is something I would buy.

Food wise, the only stuff I like is a ficelle (thin baguette) cut in half, buttered and jammed (raspberry, strawberry, apricot, etc.) Well, maybe I could be swayed by some shortbread cookies...

Good luck!

My expectation would be to keep the noxious coffee fumes INSIDE your establishment. I know this will not be a popular comment, given the prolifera of coffee houses popping up everywhere. One could argue that if I don't like the smell of coffee, walk on the other side of the street. Unfortunately, the other side of the street is littered with coffee houses as well. Even malls have their share where the smells drift into clothing stores and other non-food related retailers. It's not just an aversion; the smell of coffee makes me physically ill (maybe an allergy?). Just as smokers are forced to limit smoking to certain areas so as not to offend or affect the health of others, so should businesses where there is a high walk-in trade and a particularly strong odor emanating from their establishment.

I know I'm swimming upstream with this comment, but as of late, it's become a major problem for me. It's tough to go anywhere without taking anti-nausea medication ahead of time with the expectation of passing a coffee house or two. Maybe I was exposed to coffee aversion therapy as an infant :-P Who knows.

I certainly wish you the best of success with your endeavor, but the whole coffee issue is a sore spot with me.

A really nice detail my coffee shop does (particularly in the summer) is to have simple syrup available to add to the iced coffee because normal sugar doesn't dissolve in cold beverages. That alone, makes me decide one cafe from another in the summer.
As others have mentioned, having chai and other teas available so that I can invite my non coffee drinking friends along (yes they could get Italian Sodas, but in the winter months they wants something warm too), and I get teas when I have a cold.
Also, I'll second the punch card suggestion. The coffee shop across the street is a lot cheaper than the one I regular, but my coffee shop has a punch card and it's really nice to save those free espresso drinks for when I have to study for an exam.
I hope this helps and good luck!

Have the hot drinks really hot, the cold ones really cold.
Don't give me decaf unless I ask for it (I think the girl gave me decaf yesterday..blech)
Have soy milk
Keep the place clean.

Please cold-brew your iced coffee! It makes all the difference in the world in terms of flavor - cold-brewed using a very dark roast. Yum. I second offering soymilk, and I know organic is a touchy subject around here, but since 80% of conventional soy is GMO, you might consider using organic, since people who drink soy might be more likely to care about that stuff.

I agree that for "to stay" customers, ceramic mugs and glass tumblers for the iced stuff would be a huge plus. I also agree that skipping the wifi iin the coffee shop if the library has it is a good idea - because people will disregard logic and camp out in the cafe all day rather than hang out on their laptops in the library.

Maybe you can set up some sort of library-themed promotion, too...like a free juice (or other non-sugared drink) for every five books a child in the reading group reads, or folks with library cards get a discount on coffee drinks every Tuesday. This could be especially effective in the early days of the shop, to let library-goers know you're there and your coffee is great. Free mini-cups the first couple of days might even be a good idea. Good luck! It sounds like a great new location for your business.

Hello!

Wow, love all your support!

One of the benefits in being at the library is that the wifi is already there and it does work in the coffee shop, I have seen people using it in the space already. Outdoor seating is available and there are only 3 comfy type chairs available in the shop. Other areas, outdoor & extra seating outside of the coffee shop are small tables and chairs. In the library itself there are large tables and comfy sofas and chairs. People will be permitted to take coffee and other beverages into the library but I am not sure about food.

Some comments: in our current location we pay $2000 - rent, $600 -gas & electric, $80 - Wifi, triple net (building taxes, common area costs, lawn cutting or snow removal, and repairs to the building, insurance) - this can range from $600 - over $1,000 per month, insurance for inside the premises - $200, add in the smaller costs (credit card costs are approximately 6.5% of the amount charged) and misc. At any rate, cost is about $4,000 before I open the doors.

I only mention this as our average sale price is less than $5 (credit card companies charge more for small sales). In our current location the majority of our sales are less the $5. Examples: coffee $1.70 - 16 oz. , smoothies - $3.55, tea - $1.70, latte - $3.50. Customers get one drink and proceed to use our space for several hours. Sometimes they only get a cookie - $1.00) While I like the fact that they come to our facility, this business is not nearly enough to keep the place open.

I am certain that this will be different at the library as I will be cutting overhead by 80%.

I only mention this as we have had people come into our coffee shop, bring their own food and drink, use our restroom facility, our Wifi, drink our water, and sleep on our sofa or just use our place without any monetary contribution!

We have served sandwiches and baked goods and we do serve tea and offer soymilk, yes organic. The challenge is serving a consistent product.
Employees each make a sandwich the way they like it and some of them don't make them at all! (they tell customers we are out of sandwich fixings). I originally made healthy whole grain and tasty muffins made from scratch. The public generally buys the huge, fluffy 700 calorie muffins which cost 2 x as much as the healthy option and are also 2 x as large.

I now usually get pre - mixed muffin batter that I thaw and bake. I also have been getting. Cookies are also frozen and baked at the shop. I now get sandwiches in a grab and go carton, chicken salad, tuna salad, ham or turkey with cheese. These are made fresh locally. I am wondering if I need these at all?

Love the idea of the small cups at first, we do have ceramic cups for those who want, and the free juice for the kids is great.

Please continue ideas, comments, and suggestions!

Vicki

Well.
if you're able, there's a chain in the southeast USA called "Village Coffee." Look them up, and do the exact opposite of what they do.
a brief rundown of no-no's, then:
1. don't leave week-old muffins in the case(for that matter, also don't buy muffins in bulk from Sam's and sell them for triple the cost)
2. don't "stick" with a distributor; if your roaster suddenly starts turning out crappy products, find another roaster--it's not like they're in short supply.
3. don't ban regular customers, or invent policies that exclude and/or alienate large portions of your potential customers.
4. most important of all, LISTEN TO YOUR EMPLOYEES! they'll be the ones having the most contact with customers, so they're going to know a lot of what goes on in the shop, and thusly best be able to advise you on what you need to succeed.

I agree with Tokyorosa's comments, especially about the jerks camping out with their computers! Go home!

I'm a big fan of daily newspapers in coffeeshops, but those are probably already available in your library. Try to have a choice of black, green and herbal teas. Decaf black tea is a nice touch too. Peanut butter cookies? They are hard to find these days with allergies...

Thinking of coffee and coffee houses i immediately go to my mind's eye of Peet's Coffee and Tea- Palo Alto, Ca and a number of coffee bars in Amsterdam. What i look for is fresh, hot coffee or espresso with some interested folks behind the counter-- some current newspapers, fresh accoutrements --no big whoop like sandwiches and smoothies and that stuff. Fresh ground and fresh brewed coffee from people who are nice and don't correct me when i say "small dark roast" as opposed to thier frengitalish bastardization of a cup of great joe.

Some things my favorite coffee shop has that makes them stand out...

-Baristas who enjoy their job, know about the coffee, and chat with customers. Kristie knows that I always get an iced coffee, no sugar, when it's hot outside. And when I want to order something different, she's happy to talk about the different beans they have right now.

-Good coffee, but then, that's obvious, isn't it? Some coffee shops roast their own beans, and that's a plus, but I've had great coffee from places that buy from a local roaster. On the other hand, one of my favorite coffee shops switched from a local roaster to Community Cup coffee, and it just totally killed the place.

-Simple syrup on the condiment bar; adding granulated sugar to iced coffee doesn't work. :-(

-No Hershey's! I can tell when a place uses Hershey's syrup in their mochas or hot chocolates, and it's always a big turn-off. Too sweet, with that wierd HFCS taste. And on the same note...

-No Torani! Every coffee I've had with Torani syrups in it has tasted funky, with a weird bitter aftertaste. It's very unpleasant. I'd also recommend dating your syrups, and throwing them out after they get too old. Stale syrups are pretty unpleasant.

-To-go cups, and for-here cups. I like to relax in a nice chair with a mug
of coffee sometimes, and other times, I just need to run.

-Branded cups. I know this seems shallow, but I always feel self-conscious when I go around town carrying a generic coffee cup. I feel better if it has the coffee shop's logo on it; makes me feel indy. I know some of our local coffee shops have inkstamps, and every morning, the baristas stamp the coffee cups they'll use for the day, to cut down on printing costs.

-Something for my friends. I have friends that don't drink coffee, so when I take them out to a coffee shop, it's nice if there's something they can order. An awesome hot chocolate, or fresh squeezed orange juice, or tea. Smoothies, maybe. And ask if they want to add any flavorings to it; I know one friend who was totally surprised that he could do that.

-House specials. I'm a sucker for trying the house special. My favorite local coffee shop had a hazelnut-white chocolate latte hat was sublime. Daily specials are nice too.

-Blended drinks that aren't icey. I've had some pretty awful blended drinks before; just taking a latte, adding ice, and blending it results in a pretty weak drink that separates into layers. Adding powdered milk, or carageenan, or half-n-half, really thickens the drink, and gives it a better texture.

-Art from local artists. Big plus.

-Atmosphere! I've been in some coffee shops with fluorescent lighting, blank walls, uncomfortable, cafeteria-style chairs and institutional tile. The only art they had was pink flamingos. I couldn't escape fast enough.

-Prices. Starbucks is the upper limit of my price range for coffee, and even they're a little pushing it. If you have good coffee, and lower prices than SB, I'm sold.

a smile?

Decent drip coffee made freshly often.

Fresh pastries including some for us diabetics.

Free wifi without the need to register or pay or any such thing to get in.

Nice eye candy is a plus.

Take a cue from my favorite coffee shop in the country, Jack's Stir Brew in New York's West Village: Great coffee and a sense of community are what makes for a great place. Don't have too many choices, keep things fresh and treat your customers like family!

Update on the new location!

Thought I'd pop in with an update on how things are going.

Most of the suggestions above had and will continue to be implemented. We opened the first part of December 2008. Business is continuing to grow and we intend to offer afternoon tea on Sundays.

While nearly all is good the one major dilemma I must now deal with is freeloading. The footprint of my shop is very small, less than 600 square feet. The library provides outside seating and seating in the lobby outside my shop. I maintain tables that the library provides for me. My only responsibility to those areas are keeping the tables clean.

The dilemma comes with people bringing their own food into ALL of the space.

Let me go back a bit. When coffee shops became popular they were something of a unique phenomena. Now we have gourmet coffee being served at every convenience store (similar to mine? NO!) Pushing a button on a machine and having every ingredient magically appear in the cup is not what we do here! Starbucks and Caribou on every corner and all good restaurants in town serving great product, mostly ours! Competition has increased within the business so I feel the need to offer more. We do offer fresh baked goods every day, they are purchased in frozen batter form and we bake them. Also have smoothies, ice cream and we do make fresh sandwiches and soup. Will stop the soup soon and make salads.

People bring in their own food and drinks and use the tables inside and outside that I maintain, they even bring their stuff into my small space. Sometimes no purchase is made and many times the purchase is insignificant (water, a cookies)

Would it be prudent for me to place signs on the tables stating that they are for coffee shop patrons?

People are allowed to take food and drinks into the library and they can play card games or majong (sorry, spelling!) at the tables inside the library.

Help is requested please!

Vicki

@Vicki...yes, I would put table tents or some other signage indicating that at least the tables inside the shop are for shop patrons. You may have to 'police' the area for a bit...but after awhile people will get used to it. If they need further explanation, perhaps pointing out to them that if you don't make any money the tables will not be available because the doors to your coffee shop will be closed may be necessary.
Good luck!

I'm thinking also of adopting a waitress/waiter style for awhile. Put menus on the tables and have approach customers at tables to see what they'd like to order. I think they'd get the message. Since our place is so small delivering the order to the table is no problem.

Also, lately the tips have been poor. We need a campy statement to put on the tip jar (ex. Tips for poorly paid baristas!) Something to get attention. By waiting on tables more tips might be left.

Vicki

FYI: We will make you a fresh drip coffee any time. I use the melitta cones. (This for chardonnay who might request this at the current coffee shop) Right now we just place then on top of the cups but if we overfill we don't notice. I know I can get a drip station but they are obnoxiously expensive, take up a lot of room and usually require drainage.

This coffee shop is my business. Yesterday a meal, none of it purchased from me, was consumed at tables that I clean and maintain, also sandwiches were consumed and several people walked in with beverages purchased elsewhere. I serve all of these products that could easily have been procured at our location. Now, lets pretend you HeartofGlass, are the owner of my place. You pay employees minimum wage (yes they do need tips). I have just come into your place with a friend and my friend gets a cookie for $1 and I have brought in my own PB & J sandwich, which you can also make for me. I sit there with my friend and use your table, your internet, your napkins and ask you for a glass of ice water to go. How long can you stay in business when you have rent to pay and $50,000 in equipment as well as product to purchase that you hope to sell and employees to pay, utilities etc. After I have lingered a few hours using the net, I decide to leave and now you have clean up the table I used and sweep up the crumbs from the floor where I dropped my sandwich. By the way I also used your bathroom so you need to go clean that up also.

I would be interested in knowing how you keep this business viable.

Vicki

It sounds like it's a small place, but for me, my advice would be to invest in good staff. Just because a 16 year old can pull some espresso, doesn't mean he or she can interact with the customers. I don't want flaky service, I don't want giggling employees who nominally pay attention to me while talking with each other. I love the idea of a daily quiz, first five people who answer correctly receive a free cup of coffee, or something to that effect. Hire genuinely friendly people without attitudes who are knowledgeable about coffee and not pretentious, and you'll have people coming back time and again.

Julie,

Vicki here! I would be very interested to know what you serve in your coffee shop. We have good loyal customers and all say they appreciate our being there. How many people do you have on staff? To many questions!

Vicki

Julie, I did check your site and congratulate you on your success. I am interested in how your business is structured. Currently I pay rent to the library and have to pay insurance, to the tune of $1600 + per year, on the space that I rent which is less than 600 square feet. There are six tables just outside my facility and 4 tables outdoors that are not included in the rent. Several times since opening people have brought in food and drinks that have been purchased outside of my business. Lately I have put signs on the tables stating that they are for Cafe del Sol Coffee & Tea patrons only and that product from other sources can be consumed inside the library. I have had a positive response to these signs as customers think it is rude for people to bring food and drinks into areas that I maintain. I have also asked people to take their food elsewhere. Legally I have no right to do this as these are not included in the rent. To include them would be a huge increase, possibly not in rent, but in insurance cost. I feel food and drink being brought to tables that I maintain is rude and extremely detrimental to my business as I offer these items also. Any thoughts or comments on this?

Julie,

Thanks for all your comments. I too have used the health department to discourage folks from bringing in outside items. However, when I checked with them the other day I learned they HAVE NO REGULATIONS regarding restaurant seating and tables. They recommend that the tables are cleaned and sanitized a minimum of every 4 hours! Consumers beware! Can you believe that? Behind that counter I practically have to wash my hands every minute and sanitize everything with bleach water after each use, but hey after it leaves the counter you all are on your own! It also turns out that my insurance already covers the outdoor and indoor seating areas so I will meet with the library to see how I can get those tables in the lease for as little money as possible. They are extremely interested in our success and I think are somewhat disappointed in the folks who said "if you build it we will be there". Not that we are struggling but I think that allowing people to bring in food and drink is very detrimental to what I'm trying to accomplish here. I will meet with them next week and keep you posted. For the most part if I ask people to leave they do so as they consider the library tables are something of a picnic ground. They do not know that I pay the library rent, how else would it work? There is another library coffee shop not far away and I know the owner, she has the same problem and I'm going to give her a call and see how she is handling this situation.

TTFN
Vicki

Julie,

Sorry it's taken so long to post here!

I had a meeting with our library board and they are in total support of our coffee shop.

They are also understanding of the public's desire to have a place at the library for family eating.

While they had planned for folks to come to the library and buy items from the cafe and eat or drink at the available tables, they did not plan for people bringing their own food. Since this is a public library they would like to accommodate their patrons.

I think they have decided to amend our lease, with no extra cost to us, to include the 6 tables in the entryway. The four tables outside are to be for public use.

This really works for me as I figure the outside tables are least profitable. Here in Iowa they are not used at all during winter and later this summer it will be to hot to sit outside. The tables are metal. I have also stopped maintaining those tables to discourage people from using them! Since they are not part of the lease I feel it's not my responsibility to clean off the bird poop, except for my customers who want to use them, of course!

I highly recommend you meet with your foundation people, they support your shop, yes? and find out what their expectations are for your space. Let them know how detrimental to your business the practice of customers bringing food and beverage into your coffee shop. I know you said you chase them to outside tables, that is good and you must continue to do this. I would encourage you to put signage on your tables letting people know which tables are for coffee shop use exclusively (with the support of the library) and which can be used for the public (hopefully none of them) and be very vocal about enforcing this decision.

I personally told a lady unloading her fast food onto a table the other day that she needed to take it outside. She replied that it was raining (it wasn't!) so I told her she needed to take it inside and she did. I let her know those are my tables and to move on!

Yes the table had signage that said tables reserved for our customers!

Once you let people take over your space they will continue to do so. Most customers appreciate the signs and feel people bringing food in are rude.

Get the support of your library and enforce it!

By the by, I spoke with another library coffee shop and they pay a bit less rent that I do but they only rent the counter and the space behind it so the serving portion of the shop is library property but they still maintain it and ask people to leave if they are busy. They said while they allow people to bring in food and drink it is rare and they really hate it when people leave their trash to be cleaned up! Can you imagine?

Look forward to hearing how you're doing

Vicki