Want to help out a local San Jose business with a Ferrari Car Show

Sounds interesting, Bascom is nearby Willow Glen.

Maybe we should just figure out how to get the Starbucks closed?

On another note, have they sat down and analyzed their business and figured out why they are losing customers to Starbucks? What is their competitive advantage? What are they good at that they should do more off and what are they bad at that they should either stop or improve? Have they done a SWAT analysis? If Starbucks is offering a better product, don't blame them. Maybe we can help them improve their business...

Anyway, I'd bring my 348...

Kai

 

Target a demographic like motorcycle riders.. Motorcycle riders will routinely meet once a week just to get out, ride and talk with folks about their trips, bikes, etc...
Then word of mouth will spread on the location... try http://www.southbayriders.com/.. In colorado there is coffee house all the motorcycle folks meet at on thursday night at 7pm.
I found out from southbayriders there is a coffee shop in santa cruz, ca where all the motorcycle folks meet on wednesday night.. in regards to the bay area all I ever hear is go
up to alices.. okay well how about somewhere in the south bay... sounds like you might have a good spot!!

Though I agree they should sit down and do a SWAT and also a 5 year plan if they have not... also sometimes failing in a business helps us succeed in the next.. perhaps it
is time to let this one go before it destroys them emotionally and financially. Do they have a website? Have they thought about offering a coffee/sandwich delivery service to local
businesses by reaching out to silicon valley companies? I know routinely there are meetings in silicon valley businesses where sandwiches and drinks are brought in from outside.
Building a relationship with business will help bring more customers in since they now know your product.. Create a recurring event every week that folks know about that is unique!

Having a small business is a tough road... I wish them the best!!

 

Your friends should take a look at other small, family-owned coffee shops who are doing well despite Starbucks' omnipresence.

We have a little place called Coffee Society over here in Cupertino which is alway full of people and there are two Starbucks and a Peets within a mile. Of course, having DeAnza College across the street helps, but there's a Starbucks every bit as close as Coffee Society.

My wife and I seek out the smaller, family-owned shops as we actually prefer the coffee and ambience over the corporate spots.

Having a car show there is interesting, but that's band-aide to the real problem of attracting a solid, repeat customer base.

If you do organize a show... definitely market it here and on Luxury4play.com. We regularly gather at Santana Row, so moving for one Saturday to another location likely wouldn't be that big an issue.

Frank

 

I don't think that trying to change the locale from SR to this other site 1 day a month would work well. One of the reasons SR works is because everyone who is interested knows when and where it is and if they have a free morning they just head over. Variant schedules (every Saturday except 3rd Saturdays, etc, etc) tend to dilute that formula and people just forget. Another reason SR works is because the family can go shopping while the car guys hang out; i.e. it works for everyone.

The location is 1 or 2 exits away from Santana Row. My gut feel is that you're most likely to get a few cars to head over from SR, say about 11AM-noon for a lunch-time extension rather than making it a separate meet in almost the same area on a different day.

You'd have to make the lunch-time event attractive to SR regulars for some reason more than wanting to help your friends out. E.g. good food, music, etc. Otherwise people will come by once to see what's going on, but they won't plan on extending their day on a regular basis. Some folks stay around for lunch at SR, but those who didn't bring their families to go shopping have just used up their car time credits with the family and need to get back home. If the event is family friendly, that might help guys bring their families and extend their time.

How is the parking lot, Saturday at lunchtime? Enough room for cars in groups or will nice cars be mixed up with family vans and trucks that don't care?

 

Do they offer free wireless internet access? That and easy power access is something that could be a factor in pulling customers away from Starbucks.

 

Wow... I literally live walking distance from this place, and I had no idea it was there! I'll have to go give it a look.

I don't know squat about running a small business, but I can tell you something that another small business near Santa Clara U. is doing that works(/worked for me, anyway!). There's an ice cream shop on Park Ave. @ Locust St. called "Blondies." On Mondays, they do $1 cones or cups. My wife and I heard about this, and we made it pretty much a weekly pilgrimage every Monday during the summer. We'd ride our bikes there to at least *attempt* to get some sort of exercise out of the deal. Nowadays, when the craving strikes for ice cream, do you think we go to Santana Row (Ben & Jerry's) or Valley Fair (Coldstone) for ice cream? Hell no - we go to Blondies, and not necessarily on Mondays, either!

Perhaps your friends could do something similar like $1 house coffees on a particular day to attract first-time customers. With Santa Clara U. just down the road, it seems like there's a potential gold mine of caffiene-hungry coeds who also need to pinch their pennies, and a cheap cup might be just the ticket to get them in the door... Just down the street at Bascom & Newhall is a bar called the Normandie House Lounge that always has SCU students inside, and across the street and down another 1/2 block is a Chinese Restaurant called Chef Ming's where we see students frequently, as well, so the kids ARE willing to travel that far from campus.

Another thing that just came to mind is the university's dining card system - I think they're called "Bronco Bucks" or something along those lines. I believe it's basically a pre-paid meal card that's accepted at places on- and off-campus. If the coffee shop was able to get set up to accept those (along with advertising on-campus), that might be another way to attract students that would otherwise shy away due to their cash-poor nature...

Just thinkin' out loud here, really - hope it helps...

 

+1

These are all great ideas... this is a good brain-storming exercise. I hope a couple of these ideas resonate with the coffee shop owners.

 

I work at UC Davis, and we have a similar thing here, Aggie Cash. Basically, you buy a pre-paid card, and use it for food at both on and participating off-campus locations. Starbucks doesn't participate in this, but the indie coffee shops do, and do quite well. The premise is that anyone that uses the card gets 10% off their meal/drink/whatever. Most of these cards are purchased by parents in supplement to a meal plan for freshmen, but staff and faculty use them too because of the discount.

Another thing they can offer is specialty gourmet coffee. We have an independent coffee shop in Davis called Mishka's that is so successfull, they're contracting a company to build them an entirely new two story building with a balcony. The secret to their success? Always having fresh croissants and sandwitches (Brought in every morning by an outside bakery), candy truffles and cakes and gourmet coffee you can't get anywhere else. Pre-prepared food from an outside vendor is the way to go, all the staff has to do is warm up a croissant in the microwave. I go there because they can brew me a mean cup of Illy espresso... hard to find but worth every penny!!!

In addition to free wifi, they have power outlets next to or underneath every table. During finals, the place is crammed with students, and everyone has a laptop.

All these things make Mishka's a huge success. Did I mention they don't even take credit cards? ;-)

And there is a starbuck's literally around the corner from this place. It's not empty, but never has the crowd of this shop.

 

FWIW, the only reason I go to Starbucks in the morning is because they have hot breakfast sandwiches...

-mick

 

I had one today. I think they put crack in those things.......

 

Is Calo going to throw another BBQ soon?

 

The girl I am dating lives right around the corner from your friends shop. I have noticed every time I go by, they are closed, yet the Starbucks is open. Or at least have the apperance of being closed from the street. Their location leaves a lot to be desired imo.

 

+1... The wife and I walked over there on Monday afternoon to try it out - closed after 2pm daily!

 

Are you serious? Next to a college campus? Everyone knows prime studying hours for college students are 6-9PM, that's when the coffee really starts flowing. Throw some sandwiches into the mix and you're good!
I won't blame them if they don't open at 6am on a saturday like SBUX, but closing at 2 is unacceptable.

 

I wholeheartedly disagree. Their business practices need an overhaul, yes, but I would love to come out and give them the support, especially if it's with a group of exotics. If I owned a business and was making business decisions, I would appreciate a smack upside the head combined with the support of people that still appreciate what I do; as opposed to groups of people deciding not to patronize the business for reasons not actually related to the quality of my product/service. Scheduling this with Santana Row is a different story though...