With how popular coffee is around the world, and how booming the coffee shop industry has been over the last decade, it’s no surprise that fashion retailers have been getting in on the act. It’s not uncommon for department stores to have restaurants or cafés onsite as an extra little revenue driver, with the bonus effect of keeping customers in the store for longer. In recent years though we’ve seen more and more retailers from specialist areas, such as the high fashion world, open up dedicated coffee shops inside some of their most popular stores.
Branded coffee shops
Some of the best-known retail brands have been trying their hand at the coffee game, here are just a few of the most successful and well known from around the world.
Ralph Lauren – Ralph’s Coffee on the 2nd floor of the flagship New York store is probably the most famous fashion/coffee combo in the world. They have also opened a swanky coffee bar in their London Mayfair site, which serves alcoholic drinks as well as coffee.
Armani – Having embraced adding restaurants to their retail stores back in the 90’s, many Armani stores around the world now house high end cafés inside, adding to the luxury experience associated with the brand.
Burberry – Their Regent Street store in London is home to Thomas’ Café, serving breakfast and lunch, as well as artisan teas and coffees.
TOMS – First ethical shoes and now ethical coffee! TOMS have gone one step further than other brands and not just have onsite coffee shops in their stores, but have also started their own coffee roasting business which provides water to people in need with each purchase.
Coffee collaborations
It’s not just the bigger brands branching out though, plenty of smaller stores have been adding coffee shops to their sites too, or collaborating with coffee shops to build a shared space that benefits both businesses. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see these kinds of partnerships with bigger brands too, such as the Costa Coffee shops you might see in places like Odeon Cinemas, or larger Next stores.
Places like fashion boutiques, record stores and book shops are all really common places to find a little coffee shop in. Smaller businesses in particular often see a lot of benefit, particularly when they rely heavily on foot traffic, so bringing in an additional crowd can only have a positive effect on your profits.
You can do it too!
It’s actually much easier than you may think to start offering coffee alongside your business. With compact WMF bean-to-cup machines, you can expand your business with minimal space and without having to provide your staff with any specialist training. For example, the WMF 1100 S can produce a large variety of different coffee and chocolate beverages, using the simple, intuitive touch display. Cleaning is easy with the Click&Clean system, and as it’s only 60cm tall it uses up hardly any counter space at all.
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