Coffee shops in Jinan start a battle for coffee business circle. Coffee and other cafes on Shangdao Island are closed.

Photo taken by Guo Yao, a reporter from Coffee "Rookie" who continues to occupy all major business circles.

Recently, the coffee market in Jinan is very active, with the incremental expansion of front-line coffee shops, the establishment of the only professional coffee market in the province, and the well-known coffee brands racing enclosure.

Can a series of actions in the industry arouse Quancheng citizens' enthusiasm for coffee? In Jinan, known as the "city of insensitivity", how many people are willing to spend money in cafes that represent fashion culture? Can coffee drinkers feed the growing coffee industry? Each complex has several or even more than a dozen cafes. Reporter Guo Yao photographed our reporter Tian Shan.

Starbucks, COSTA, ZOO Coffee, Universal Coffee. Recently, walking on the streets of Jinan, you will find that more and more coffee shop signs occupy a prominent position in various commercial buildings. With the opening of new commercial faces such as green space and generous li, coffee shops are becoming more and more popular in the horse racing enclosure in Jinan. On the other hand, former coffee bosses such as "Shangdao" are constantly withdrawing from the market, and many operating cafes are also facing a situation of scarce customers and low profits.

The coffee shop huddled into the complex

Mulan, a post-90s foreign student from France, opened the "tallest" green center in Jinan last month. She rented a 260-square-meter store on the first floor of the tall building and opened a coffee shop. Before that, she had looked for markets in Qingdao, Jimo, Pingdu and other places. In the end, she chose the coffee shop in Jinan because in her view, compared with Qingdao, Jinan rent is more suitable, and the coffee market atmosphere in Jinan is more suitable to open a shop.

There are many coffee operators who agree with Mulan. As soon as she opened the business complex in the Greenland Center, there were many cafes such as Man Coffee, ZOO, Grande Coffee, Charlie Brown Coffee, Starbucks and so on. On the four roads around it, there is Starbucks Coffee in Wanda Square, and COSTA Coffee has been opened in Zhenhua Mall. In addition to the carving time and Pandorosi nearby, there are at least a dozen cafes.

The same generous street opening in October also affected the minds of many coffee shops, such as lazy cat cafe, snow iced coffee and so on. In addition, Taifu Square and Hongshang Square, which have not been open for a long time on Quancheng Road, there are also more than a dozen cafes.

Some coffee chains are also speeding up the opening of stores in Jinan. For example, the well-known brand "Man Coffee" opened its first store in Jinan in February, and in October, its second store made a high-profile debut, becoming the largest coffee shop in Jinan with a volume of 1200 square meters. "We are now selecting a site and plan to open two new stores in Jinan by the end of next year." The person in charge of the coffee brand said.

The old shops on the island set off a wave of closure.

Interestingly, while coffee "newcomers" continue to occupy major business circles, many of their predecessors are having a hard time, and some of them have even closed their doors.

Shangdao Coffee, which has a history of nearly 20 years in Jinan, was once brilliant for a time, but this year it ushered in the tide of "closing doors". The reporter visited and found that Shangdao Coffee, which was originally located in Jinlong Building near Ganshi Bridge, has been transformed into a noodle restaurant. Since the first half of this year, shops on Shangdao Cafe Mountain Road, Ma on Shan Road, and Garden Road have also been closed one after another. Another well-known coffee chain, Coffee with you, opened six franchise stores in Jinan, and its Shimao store closed in June.

The closure of famous coffee shops such as Shangdao is also expected by consumers. Mr. Xu, who works near the Jinlong Building, used to be a regular coffee customer on the island, but he has been there less and less in recent years. "compared with the new coffee shops, the prices of coffee in Shangdao and other shops are on the high side, and the stir-fried dishes feel a little different. In terms of coffee taste, it is not as good as some new cafes, and in terms of food matching, it is not as good as western restaurants. " Mr. Xu said.

In fact, the closure of Shangdao Coffee occurred not only in Jinan. The number of Shangdao Coffee in Chengdu dropped sharply from 20 at its peak to 12, while that in Tianjin dropped from more than 70 at its peak to less than 40. Beijing has also begun to close its doors.

The business of local independent brands is weak.

Zheng Xiaozhi is the head of the operation of a Quanle Fang coffee shop called Yamu, which is famous among the fashionable young people in Jinan because of its literary atmosphere and dedication to coffee production. Zheng Xiaozhi is a musician who often performs original ballads everywhere with a guitar. Before him, the owner of this store was an oil painter. Unlike other cafes that sell stir-fried dishes and drinks, this shop always insists on selling only coffee.

But adhering to the single-item route makes the business in the store seem a little lukewarm. "many of them are repeat customers, and they like this place, so they often come to visit. Because there is no matching meal, just simple coffee, the price of a cup of coffee is about 30 yuan, a customer usually only order a cup of coffee, so the profit is limited, just can maintain the balance of payments. " Zheng Xiaozhi said.

The reporter visited a number of coffee shops near Quancheng Road and found that Starbucks, located in Henglong and Guihe malls, is very popular. On the other hand, the small cafes in Taifu Square and Quanle Square are relatively deserted. A cafe clerk in Taifu Square, which also sells beer and stir-frying, told the reporter frankly: "although we focus on coffee, we still make a profit by drinking and cooking." According to the current consumption concept of Jinan people, coffee shops that only sell coffee are really difficult to sustain. "

Compared with Qingdao, the development of coffee in Jinan is relatively slow and is still in its infancy. There is a coffee street in Qingdao, but not in Jinan, but mostly concentrated around the business circle. Qingdao can make people remember that there must be 200 to 300 famous cafes, and there are no more than 30 or 40 in Jinan. " Yang Xinqiang, manager of the Peace Cafe, also told reporters. According to him, the sales of Peace Cafe have been on the rise since it opened for more than two years, but at present, pure coffee sales only account for 1 / 4 of the total coffee shop. "this proportion is bound to rise in the future." Compared with 2013, pure coffee sales in the past two years have increased by 10% and 15% a year, Yang said.

(source: Shun net-Jinan Times)