Coffee shop changes back to local slow coffee + bookstore model faces survival dilemma

In Jining City, there is such a group of consumers who do not like the cafes in the bustling business district and choose to go to more personalized cafes. As a result, new business models such as book bars and cafes emerge as the times require, either hidden in noisy shopping malls or in little-known old neighborhoods, through careful transformation, compared with the commercial atmosphere around them, it is more full-bodied of literature and art and book flavor.

The incarnation of a bookstore as a petty bourgeoisie living hall is being replaced by reporters to learn that with the popularity of the Internet, many physical bookstores or cafes have to consider transformation, and it is at this time that the integration mode of books, catering, cultural creation and other forms of business is quietly sprouting.

They are transformed into a good-looking petty bourgeoisie living hall, and consumers can regard it as a new place for leisure. Intuitively, the most obvious difference between the book bar and the bookstore is the style of decoration. After years of feeling the solemnity of the decoration and decoration of ordinary bookstores, the book bar brightens people's eyes. It is understood that there are many young people in Jining who spend weekends with friends. But they are tired of traditional entertainment such as cinema, shopping, shopping and singing, and gradually like to read in an elegant environment.

A few days ago, the reporter came to the Coffee imprint Life Hall below Zicheng International in Jining City. The entrance store is small, the facilities in the store are all made of wood, there is a coffee machine at the entrance counter, and there are a large number of books on the wooden shelf next to the right hand. From the stairs to the second floor, the space is divided into two, the lights are a little dizzy, and all kinds of books are neatly placed on the shelves on one side. In the cafe, there are all kinds of tea, lemonade, coffee and some cakes and steaks, with more than a dozen cork chairs and wooden tables scattered.

"in fact, I think this is not just a cafe, but more like a small leisure bookstore. There are different types of cubicles upstairs, and it's comfortable to meet some friends to read books, drink coffee and have a heart-to-heart talk on weekends. " A woman who was reading in the store told the reporter that she felt that there were many forms of business here, which was a good place for people with less private time. "and it's cheap to spend here. If you need to, you can order a cup of coffee or a snack. You can sit here for half a day for 10 or 20 yuan." The lady said.

The book bar, which invests heavily and makes money slowly, will not survive in 2015. The predecessor of "Coffee imprint" tested the waters in a university in Jining and reopened on Jinyu East Road last year. Compared with a serious coffee shop, this coffee shop is full of literary and artistic style. However, in the reporter's interview, it was found that the operation of this coffee shop was relatively bleak. According to the head of the store, Mr. Tian, when the coffee shop started, the business condition was not ideal. The monthly electricity bill alone costs nearly 3,000 yuan, plus employees' wages, electricity bills, property fees, rent, etc., and the monthly expenditure is nearly 20,000 yuan, while the monthly turnover is less than 10,000 yuan.

"customers are usually concentrated, mostly after a lunch break or after work in the evening, but usually from Friday night, the number of customers in the store begins to increase, and a lot of people come to read books on weekends." Mr. Tian, the person in charge of the coffee shop, told the reporter that business in the shop was relatively stable from Monday to Friday, because there were more office workers around, but some young people around them would come through introduction on weekends, so overall the daily turnover was about the same. "compared with some other first-tier cities, the business model of bookstore + coffee does not have a large flow of people in Jining. We analyzed that one may be the factor of location, and the other is the difference in reading habits." Mr. Tian told reporters that before their research, they found that teenagers in Jining prefer physical books, and such books are updated the fastest, while adults read fewer kinds of books.

Take this 150-square-meter coffee shop as an example, the investment cost is about 500000 yuan. Mr. Tian told reporters: "under the current market conditions, the investment cost of book bar + coffee is high, and the cost recovery is relatively slow. If reading is not formed as a kind of cultural leisure, then it is difficult to guarantee that it will not lose money." He told reporters that during this period of business, he also found a lot of problems. Although there is innovation in the book bar + coffee, in order to meet the needs of consumers, whether it is price adjustment or innovation will have a certain impact on the business.

"nowadays, most cafes and book bars basically open one at a loss. I am in a state of unprofit every month. People may think that NT $20 for a box of snacks can be enough, but NT $20 for a cup of coffee does not necessarily mean that anyone will buy it." Even so, Mr. Tian has great hopes for it.

At present, Mr. Tian continues to launch online shopping activities and holds parties at some festivals to attract popularity. "it is very difficult for small book bars + cafes to gain a foothold in today's market." He told reporters that the reason, in addition to the current immature market, is to rely solely on in-store physical products to make a profit, the format is not rich. "the price of a cup of coffee in our family is about 20 or 30 yuan, which is about the same as that of an ordinary cafe, but if we only make a profit from this, it is not enough to face rent, labor, utilities and electricity."

"it has always been my dream to study in a warm environment. I was originally studying abroad, but after I came back from studying abroad, I was eager to combine Western-style coffee with Chinese-style reading. Someone will ask me why I am still running a store at a loss, but I just want to stick to what I want to do. " Mr. Tian said.