I try to remember the longest I’ve gone without a cup of hot coffee and it makes me realize why it’s a recession proof industry. The warm comfort of a tasty beverage combined with the increasing need for caffeine really makes it a necessity in the eyes of millions around the world. Per capita, the United States has an average coffee consumption of 200 milligrams per person daily. Caffeine Informer, a useful website that provides information about caffeine, would mention that this wild fact doesn’t even place the United States in the top 10 coffee loving countries. So we can easily guess that this product is safe from a lot of external factors, but what about the actual coffee shop itself? The biggest highlight to discuss would be Starbucks with a shocking fiscal third quarter. In their Q3 fiscal report, Starbucks states that there was an estimated loss of 3.1 billion dollars in sales due to COVID with a global comparable store sales decline of nearly 40 percent. Due to state and local restrictions, Starbucks retail stores were sticking to drive-thru only which caused large financial issues for the coffee chain. If Starbucks is having difficult decisions due to less foot traffic than that presents a troubling dilemma for smaller, independent coffee shops. I reached out to Amanda Campbell, the general manager and part-owner of Halcyon Coffee Bar in Dallas, to discuss what is occurring with coffee sales during these times.
Hello Amanda, how can a coffee shop bring the same sense of community in such a volatile time?
Halcyon was lucky to have opened in 2017, so we’d had time become an established party of the community already, but folks look to us to be their one of very few outings, even now. Halcyon has always sought to be a place where guests can find happiness, whether it be in coffee or our comforting food, and a place to catch up with friends. We also started selling groceries to help move the food chain in a time of need, both for our customers and the business.
With more people at home trying to cure boredom, there’s been a plethora of new coffee recipes and DIY videos posted on Instagram. Has any new ideas/trends caught your attention through online platforms or practicing on your own?
We’ve seen the videos but we have the specialized equipment that folks do not have at home to serve proper coffee, so it’s not really a trend we’ve followed; however, we have made several innovations with COVID, to adjust to demand and the inventory we had on hand. For instance, we were ready for a HUGE St. Patrick’s Day party just days before the full shut down, so we had over 50 cases of champagne on hand. So we did what we do best & we heavily advertised mimosas & started offering all of our flavors with full bottles to go.
With fewer people working standard 9-5 jobs in the office, how does a coffee shop predict and stabilize what periods foot traffic gets light or heavy?
This is something we dealt with long before COVID. Even though COVID changed a lot of things, there are still distinct patterns folks are in. The weekends are always busier & our peak sales flows are still the usual hours. July has always been the slowest month of the year for us, so when sales dropped off the first weekend of July, we needed to not panic & realize that’s a normal pattern. Foot traffic always comes in waves, it’s never a steady flow, so you have to have enough staff or the right staff on to be able to handle it. And then a manager on duty (myself most days) to jump in when the staff needs extra help unexpectedly. Actually most of the time during COVID, I’ve been directly on the floor training, coaching & taking care of guests directly more than ever because that’s what the business needed. I was the only employee up front for several weeks during the initial shutdown because we couldn’t afford to keep anyone on. I got the barista experience I’d always “wanted”!
Are there any key products/activities that you see coffee shops adopting post COVID?
Plastic silverware kits, paper & plastic to-go cups & and plastic ramekins are here to stay for a while. We’ll start using glassware when we have enough staff to wash the dishes properly (we’ve always double washed & sanitized silverware & glasses). We made signs for tables that say SANITIZED/UNSANITIZED for folks coming in/leaving since we normally run on counter service & it can be hard to monitor table cleanliness. We also started selling some of our hand crafted beverages in quart sizes (bulk) & selling things like our scratch strawberry jam & salsa to go. Bulk coffee & espresso bean sales have increased for folks to make coffee at home. Sanitizer, sanitizer wipes, gloves & masks are must haves. But most COVID cleaning procedures are things that were already in place in proper restaurant procedures (you should have already been checking the bathrooms every hour, should be washing hands often & wearing gloves, etc.
It seems the difference between a local coffee shop and a national coffee chain is that sense of community, but how can that be built effectively with current restrictions on foot traffic?
We are again lucky to be located in a large residential area so there is still lots of foot traffic. Our only restriction is that we can only have up to 50 people inside, instead of 100. The sense of community is something that can be built with great employees but it’s just something that takes time. So for a business just starting out, that could be even more difficult than before. We really established ourselves with great service, a large menu selection in both coffee and food, as well as still having a full service cocktail bar. We aren’t limited like a regular bar because we don’t sell more than 51% of our sales to alcohol. We did a lot of work before COVID establishing our nights with events like our Wine & Succulents party as well as a movie night with ½ price wine bottles and free s’mores and free trivia on Saturday nights. These are events we are hoping to bring back by the end of the month because we know folks miss us being open at nighttime, they ask every day! We also have a rather large space for a coffee shop, which is something highly recommended as many folks still like to come and work on their laptops. It isn’t something that necessarily generates a lot of revenue but the more bodies in your shop, the more like a community it’s going to feel like. Learning regulars’ names and regular orders is important but again, if you hire the right people, they will make sure to do this for you.
Any tips for someone wanting to start their own coffee shop?
Realize how expensive all the equipment to make coffee costs. Yes, coffee sells itself but it has to be done properly. A reverse osmosis is easily $3K, the espresso machine about $10K and the grinders are about $3K a piece as well. Baristas aren’t cheap & you’re going to want to have good ones because they are using this expensive equipment & it has to be used properly for coffee, especially espresso, to come out right. It takes at least 6 days to train a barista here, and that’s with previous experience. It would take months for someone with no coffee knowledge to learn to barista. Baristas have to be very detail oriented but also artistic at the same time. Coffee itself is also not cheap so you’re going to want to try & partner with someone for a good price. Milk providers might loan you a fridge to carry their milk. People appreciate things made from scratch and they are cheaper & taste better (syrups, mixes, nitro brew) but they require training. Having the right people makes everything better. But those good folks want to work for a great manager and company so it all starts at the top.
