This year, the operation of the coffee shop is a bit "bitter".

Four years ago, European-style cafes appeared on the streets of Wenzhou and grew rapidly in the next two years. In the past two years, the business of the cafe has quietly fallen into silence, and a choice is now facing the operators-whether the store should remain open or close down decisively after the peak season before and after the Spring Festival. Is it to stick to the coffee culture, or to introduce other themes into the transformation?

Zheng Junjie, reporter of ■ Wenzhou Metropolis Daily

A large number of cafes will be closed?

"the operation of European-style cafes is facing a reshuffle, which can be seen in 2012." Xie Xiaoxian, one of the partners of Gozo Coffee, predicted. Although the European cafes in Wenzhou experienced integration more than a year ago and many investors were "washed out", there are still many European cafes, but the market capacity is not so large.

More than two years ago, a wave of European coffee fever swept across Wenzhou. Not only are there many cafes in Wenzhou, but also European cafes have emerged in strong economic counties and cities, such as Ryan, Yueqing, Cangnan, Yongjia, and so on. At present, there are as many as 70 or 80 European cafes in Wenzhou.

However, the prosperity of the coffee business more than two years ago seems to have become a sad memory for some Ryan investors. "recently, five or six European-style cafes have changed hands or changed business." Zhou Jianshu, head of OPPO Coffee Ruian Branch, said. More than a year ago, OPPO Coffee planned to open its third store in Ruian, but due to the impact of market capacity and the overall economic environment, the plan to open a new store has been shelved, and no new store has been opened in Wenzhou. It is understood that there is a new European-style coffee shop in Wenzhou this year, but it not only sells coffee, but also integrates other elements, such as the Digital @ Wireless Cafe in Euro City, which focuses on digital products.

"so far, most of the European cafes open in Wenzhou have been operating for two or three years, but 70% are still losing money, 20% are capital preservation, and only 10% are profitable." Xie Xiaoxian said frankly. Xie Xiaoxian made such remarks based on visiting dozens of cafes in Wenzhou, large and small, and tracking them.

It is obvious that the operation of cafes has been a bit "bitter" this year, and there may be a new round of closure of European-style cafes in 2012. This is because, in business operations, the time limit for a commercial project to "keep a shop" is often two or three years, and most properties in Wenzhou are leased for less than three years. "from the current point of view, the economic situation will not be much better next year, and business, including cafes, will be more difficult." Some senior people in the industry said so.

It still earns money from regular customers.

"our business mainly depends on regular customers." The heads of several European-style cafes interviewed said in unison. After years of market cultivation, coffee drinkers have expanded from overseas Chinese and people with more overseas experience to business people, especially employees in the financial sector, IT employees and some small and medium-sized enterprise operators. The person in charge of a number of cafes said that regular customers accounted for about 60% to 70% of their store business.

However, the coffee business is not easy, most customers only drink a cup of coffee, relative to the income of the coffee shop is limited, after all, the most expensive cup of coffee is only more than 40 yuan, generally around 30 yuan. Regular customers of cafes are divided into two categories, those who leave after drinking coffee, and those who sit in a fixed position for a period of time, while the latter are mostly, which is relatively low for cafes.

"compared to drinking tea, the growth of coffee drinkers can't keep up with the growth rate of cafes." The above senior people believe that. Coffee is a culture originated in Europe. There are not many European-style coffee products for customers to choose from, so many people only patronize cafes in their spare time. "some new guests come to the store and think that they can order something to stir-fry and eat, but they are very disappointed if they don't have it." Said Yi Donglin, a partner at the Italian cafe on Ma'anchi Road. Obviously, it is difficult for such a new guest to become a regular customer of the cafe.

Judging from the menus of Italian Coffee, OPPO Coffee, Lava Coffee and Gozzo Coffee, although their menus are also very rich, there are even more than 100 kinds, but the ones with higher order rates are the "old three" of European coffee, such as Italian espresso, cappuccino and latte. The reporter learned from the above-mentioned cafes that coffee products account for more than 50% of the business income of each store.

According to this estimate, it is not easy for an European cafe to make a turnover of several thousand yuan a day. It is understood that at present, the largest number of seats in the larger European cafes in the urban area is only 40 to 50 people, while the ordinary one is about 20 or 30. Based on the per capita consumption of 50 yuan, most cafes need at least two periods of time to be full to achieve the above turnover. As a matter of fact, an European-style cafe is already a good coffee shop when it is full from 8pm to 10pm every day during the rush hour.

The turnover of a single store is difficult to break through, and the operating pressure on the periphery falls on the cafe. "the growth in the number of customers has not kept pace with the rise in property rents and labor and raw materials." Yi Donglin said frankly. It is understood that since last year, commercial property rents in Wenzhou have risen by at least 10%, and the operating costs of cafes have increased by about 50%. "in the past, the turnover of about 2000 yuan a day could keep the capital, but now it costs nearly 3000 yuan."

So why not adjust the way of thinking and increase the variety of European cafes to attract more new customers? "We did not increase cooking or anything. On the one hand, cafes have no conditions, but if we use delivery and other methods, the environment of cafes will get worse." Zhou Jianshu pointed out. In the interview, the reporter also learned that most cafes dare not be too bold even if they add coffee products, for fear that the launch of new coffee products will affect the style of the cafe and thus affect the patronage of regular customers. "We also thought about the inclusion of Japanese coffee, but we were afraid that customers would not accept it." Yi Donglin said. It is understood that the innovation of most European-style cafes is not high, and the frequency of new products is generally about a month, and most of them are borrowed from their counterparts in Hangzhou, Shanghai and other big cities, and then carry out some innovation.

How far is the coffee culture?

Most European-style coffee shops still rely mainly on regular customers, one of the important reasons is that they think their cafes have developed a coffee culture. "wherever Starbucks opens, business will be good, because Starbucks has developed its own unique coffee culture." Xie Xiaoxian pointed out. Starbucks, an American fast-food coffee brand, entered Wenzhou in April and was very popular with Wenzhou people from the very beginning. After that, despite the suspension of business for a period of time, its reputation has not been compromised in the eyes of Wenzhou people.

Xie Hsiao-hsien believes that some regular customers choose to sit in a coffee shop when they have nothing to do, or order a cup of coffee to sit in a daze or think. What they like is the environment of the coffee shop, and for the coffee shop, this gradually has its own cultural atmosphere. "some customers just like a cafe, even if the nearby cafe is good, they will not choose to try."

It is understood that at present, the cafes in Wenzhou are mainly concentrated in Xinhe Street, Dananmen, the intersection of Ma'anchi Road and Feixia Road, Station Avenue, Xialupu, Xincheng Avenue and Yangfushan, of which Yangfushan is newly gathered. An industry source said that the cafes in these areas have their own characteristics, and their customers are basically less able to "string away" with each other. "even cafes of the same brand, with different locations, may form different types of customers."

It is precisely because the types of customers in various cafes make it difficult for investors to figure out, so investors have a lot of worries about investing in cafes. "now the business of the store is OK, and we also want to open a new store, but it is not enough to transplant the business model. Maybe the business is completely different." Said the owner of a cafe with plans to expand but did not take steps.

At the same time, under the influence of the cafe culture, most operators will not open up a new area. "at present, there are not many properties suitable for reopening cafes in places where several cafes are concentrated, so some brands with plans to open new stores have not been put into practice." The above senior personage disclosed.

In spite of this, the reporter visited a number of European cafes and felt that except for the difference in decoration style, there was no difference in service, coffee products and so on. "the culture of the cafe is an abstract concept, which is felt by everyone who comes to the cafe." Xie Xiaoxian thinks.

"some customers would like to come to our cafe, mainly because they can afford to talk to our waiters." Yi Donglin revealed. This also poses a challenge to cafes, requiring employees to cater to customer needs and constantly update their knowledge. Obviously, a cafe tends to talk about a certain kind of topic, which will naturally form a unique customer group in the long run.

Each cafe has formed its own unique customer group, that is, Wenzhou's cafe culture, which seems to be unconvincing. In people's minds, European-style cafes are more of a quiet and lazy place, but at present, cafes in Wenzhou tend to prefer cafes with noisy sound, and some customers smoke and pollute the space, making operators in a dilemma.

Waiting or transformation?

Although some cafes have found a way to operate, they are still a long way from making a big profit. This makes many cafe investors struggle.

"in the current state of operation, losses are not very good, but it is impossible to make more money by running coffee alone." Mr. Li, who runs a cafe in a county town, said. Recently, Mr. Li plans to improve the profit model of cafes, introducing a digital experience, or adding back-end service teams to hold events such as party in cafes. "this is not likely to change the business model of the existing cafe, and the new projects do not add much cost, if done well, it is possible for the coffee shop to make more money."

In the eyes of people in the industry, Mr. Li wants to change the business model of cafes by changing European-style cafes into themed cafes. Many themed cafes in Hangzhou, Shanghai and other places do good business. At present, several well-known cafes in the city have plans to turn into themed cafes.

However, people concerned believe that the transformation of European-style cafes into themed cafes will lose its essence, and the coffee culture that has accumulated before will never return. However, in order to survive, a small number of brand chains of European cafes have quietly transformed some stores and introduced products such as teppanyaki that do not match European coffee at all. "recently, some of our new investors have introduced stir-frying into the cafe after we changed hands on the Ryan side." Zhou Jianshu revealed.

"We also have plans to open a new store. The area of the store will be larger and the type will be different from the current one. We can order food and there will be stir-frying." Yi Donglin revealed. However, Yi Donglin said that the operating style of existing Italian coffee shops will not change much.

If European-style cafes also start to stir-fry and order food, it will be no different from traditional coffee restaurants such as La Fangshe, Shide Square, COCO Coffee and so on. In that case, in the face of competition, European-style cafes are no longer just dozens of European-style cafes, but also powerful chain brands such as La Fangshe, Shide Square, COCO Coffee and so on.

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com