The dispute between coffee shop and teahouse management

Photo by Zheng Lianxue, a reporter from the three Gorges Evening News

Recently, some netizens revealed in a forum in Yichang that within two years, eight cafes have faded out of the market near Jiefang Road. As soon as this post came out, it immediately aroused heated discussion among netizens and citizens. Some netizens believe that the low level of chefs, unsatisfactory environment, lack of characteristics and other reasons are the main reasons for the coffee shop to withdraw from the market. Other netizens attributed the result to the growing market competition between teahouses and cafes.

The glory of Yichang coffee shop has become a thing of the past, in the face of the current cruel market competition, is the coffee shop ready?

Eight coffee shops closed in two years

A month ago, a netizen revealed in a forum in Yichang: "Yichang cafes are going downhill and eight have been closed in two years." As soon as this post was published, it once aroused a great discussion among nearly 100 netizens.

The poster analyzed the reasons for the recession of Yichang cafes: Yichang cafes have no characteristics, almost all of them operate Chinese food and hot pot, and some even serve Chinese food, hot pot and chess and cards, resulting in the coffee shop being irrelevant.

The poster also said that the real cafes are mainly western food and desserts, such as many coffee shops in Wuhan do very well, have style decoration, high quality products, many food patterns, and a lot of promotions. However, the cafe in Yichang gives people the impression that it is lifeless and generally decorated, and there is not much to remember.

The poster counted by himself that within two years, eight cafes near Jiefang Road have closed down one after another, and the operation of some cafes are also on the verge of "collapse".

As soon as this post was published, it immediately aroused discussion among many netizens. The net name "Vaio" believes that the homogenization of coffee shops and western food restaurants is too serious, and the direction of competition is not obvious; the net name "vikngba-by" believes that this is the natural law of survival of the fittest in the market; the net name "alright3" says that it is mainly because there are too few white-collar workers. However, some netizens attributed the result to the market competition between teahouses and cafes, which has taken a share of the cafe market due to the prosperity of teahouses in recent years.

Look back

"We used to have glory."

Old Street Coffee is an early coffee shop in Yichang, which has been open for at least 9 years. Zhang Hui, the head of the coffee shop, told reporters that the cafe had a glorious period in Yichang for a long time, with annual profits several times higher than it is now, when coffee and western food were the main products in the cafe.

But since 2008, with the opening of more and more cafes and the gradual increase of teahouses, the market began to shrink. In 2009, the coffee shop market in Yichang entered a trough, when the operating income was only enough to cover employees' wages, water, electricity and rent, and losses would occur if they were not careful.

The reporter learned that since 2008, some cafes in Yichang have closed or changed careers for various reasons.

David Coffee is also an early coffee shop in Yichang. Yang Dandan, the lobby manager, said she went to work at David Coffee Shop in 2008. Before 2008, David's coffee business was good, she recalls, when there were four staff at the bar, all of whom were very busy. And now it's easier to be alone at the bar.

Industry experts believe that coffee shops' persistent diseases such as disorderly competition and lack of personality characteristics and the financial crisis in 2008 are one of the important reasons leading to the coffee shop recession. Disorderly competition mainly comes from two aspects, one is the competition of the coffee industry itself, the other is the prosperity of teahouses, the business scope of some teahouses is almost no different from coffee shops, but the signboards are different.

At the same time, the reporter also interviewed several consumers, they believe that almost every coffee shop in Yichang city has the same level of western food, do not feel their own characteristics, and their decoration is more or less the same.

Active planning

The coffee shop wants to make a comeback.

Along Jiefang Road, there are not only many coffee shops, but also many teahouses. Yesterday morning, the reporter walked into a teahouse on Jiefang Road. According to the teahouse staff, their teahouse can not only taste tea, but also drink coffee and eat western food. At the same time, it also provides services such as chess and card room and Internet access.

According to the owner of the teahouse, except that the signboard and decoration outside are different from those of the coffee shop, the service provided by the teahouse is basically the same as that of the coffee shop. On the contrary, some of their services are more diversified than those of the coffee shop.

Subsequently, the reporter visited a number of teahouses in the city. The reporter found that some tea shops that sell tea have also started the teahouse business, and they also operate Chinese and Western food services.

In terms of business strategy, teahouses are more flexible than cafes, such as some teahouses do not have a minimum consumption, their tea prices are cheaper than coffee, and their atmosphere is more local.

In the face of the fierce competition brought by teahouses, where should Yichang Cafe go? Yuan Bing, head of Old Street Coffee, said that since 2008, in order to get the coffee shop out of its predicament, Old Street Coffee has made a series of attempts, such as expanding its business scope. "the hot pot and stir-frying run by the coffee shop now began to be cooked at that time. At the same time, new private rooms have been added to the coffee shop to provide chess and card business. "

Yuan Bing said that after a series of innovative moves, they have survived the most difficult period of 2008 and 2009, and now their business has begun to improve. Next, they will make more efforts on service, training and improving the service quality of their staff. At the same time, it will also increase the promotion of new products and shorten the renewal cycle of new products.

Yang Dandan, manager of David Coffee Lobby, said that while expanding the scope of business, David Coffee will continue to improve and update the facilities in detail, so that consumers will feel different every time they come. Yang Dandan said that last year, when the coffee market was not very good, they carried out a comprehensive renovation of the coffee shop, and she felt that the number of customers had increased a lot after the coffee shop was renovated.

The reporter learned that at present, with the diversification of the market development, the competition is also more fierce. Coffee shops and teahouses are trying their best to attract more consumers. For example, in terms of extending business hours, at present, most coffee shops and teahouses in Yichang are open for business from 9: 00 a.m. and are not closed until around 2: 00 a.m. the next day.

mighty wave crashing on a sandy shore

Competition makes the market more mature

"the coffee culture business circle along Jiefang Road has experienced a brilliant period since its development." A person in the coffee industry who has been working in the coffee industry for many years believes that coffee culture is still very promising. She believes that the current market environment is only temporary. After years of precipitation and the market law of survival of the fittest, the business of coffee shops will improve.

Coffee is originally a foreign culture, so it should maintain its original charm. At present, the local flavor of Yichang cafes is so heavy that most cafes are irrelevant, and the development space has been compressed. In other big cities, coffee shops are coffee shops and teahouses are teahouses, and it is difficult to connect the two. In Yichang, the two concepts seem to be confused.

A person in charge of a coffee shop in Yichang, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that at present, coffee shops in Yichang are basically saturated, but there are not many high-grade and distinctive coffee shops.

On the other hand, the level of operators is generally not high, and there are not many operators who really understand coffee culture, which leads to bad competition in the market. The official said, "in view of the current situation, the time has come to reshuffle the Yichang coffee market and the teahouse market." In the past two years, a considerable number of coffee shops and teahouses will be eliminated by the market. " (source of this article: Jingchu net-three Gorges Evening News reporter: Tan Ting)

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com