The Mount Coffeehouse (9A)

Change of Plans

Although I liked my idea of the plug for coffeehouses to improve their desk spaces, I have decided to just go for it and expand my product into my dream to open a coffeeshop one day! SO HERE GOES!
As you will see in my next post with my elevator pitch, I want to open a coffee shop called The Mount Coffeehouse! What makes my coffee house unique is that it will be two tiered: the first floor is a social space where anyone can come to hang out and talk whereas the second floor will be a quieter space exclusively for studying. In my extensive visits to coffee shops around Gainesville specifically, I have gathered that people go to coffee shops mainly for the following reasons.

1. To study.

2. To hang out and talk.

3. To enjoy good coffee.

Knowing this, I must find the market of people who would not visit my coffee shop, aka do not see The Mount Coffeehouse as an opportunity.

Who —

In this interviewing process, I discovered that there are a few groups just outside my market for opening a coffeehouse. 1) non-coffee drinkers 2) non-college students 3) people who like to keep coffee and school separate.

I interviewed someone (1) who prefers tea over coffee and she told me that even just by the name of “The Mount Coffeehouse” people who are not coffee drinkers might feel excluded. Although I will plan to sell tea as well, tea drinkers may not come as quickly because the name “coffeehouse” does not include the word tea. (This may mean I need to amend my name but for now I am keeping it) For example, when I started listing coffee and tea shops, simply by name association she said she would go to Volta Coffee, Tea & Chocolate before she went to CYM Coffee Co. because tea is clearly in Volta’s name. Just as an FYI, CYM sells great tea as well.

Additionally, my coffee house, with it prioritization of a study space, would exclude a significant age bracket of customers. In my own visits to Pascal’s Coffeehouse, I have noticed that the customers are predominately college students. This observation and my interview with my dad (2) prompted me to do more research on the demographics of coffee drinkers in America. He thought that millennials drank the most coffee—he was correct. According to a report by Bloomberg,

"In 2016, millennials consume 44 percent of coffee in the United States. Daily consumption among 18 to 24-years-olds rose to 48 percent from 34 percent, while it climbed to 60 percent from 51 percent among those aged 25 to 39, according to the National Coffee Association in New York. At the same, adults 60 and older saw a drop to 64 percent from 76 percent, and there was also a decline for the 40-to-59 age group.”

Additionally, one of the students (3) I interviewed brought up that The Mount would be similar to the relationship on-campus Starbucks and libraries have, but better. Hundreds of students wait in line for coffee and then go study anyways. She noted that sometimes she just needs to get away from campus because it can be overwhelming.

Two students (4-5) I approached who were studying together said that they didn’t see the purpose in my coffee house for the very reason the student above brought up. One of them said if he wanted to get coffee and study, he would do so on campus. He likes keeping school for studying and coffee for socializing.

(and to that I say…”why not both?”)

What —

My Need for a coffeehouse that functions both as a study space and place to socialize differs from other coffee shops because in some ways, I feel like most of them accomplish one of these things really well but then the other half suffers. My opportunity is not only addressing the need to study and not only the need to socialize; it encompasses both WHILE serving up good coffee. 

Why —

People outside my boundary may not see it as a need because of the stage of life they are in. For example, only students in school may use the upstairs study space. Older individuals who visit my coffee house may be annoyed that the top floor must be quiet, however, there will still be plenty of space downstairs that I feel like this inconvenience will be negligible. In a college town like Gainesville, costs will be covered because I will place my shop close to campus rather than in an older community. 

In these reflections, I am very happy with what I have developed. I believe The Mount Coffeehouse could be a welcoming space that prioritizes craft coffee, intimate relationships, and scholarly study.