7 coffee shops, 1 downtown: Can all thrive?
Published: June 28. 2009 4:00AM PST
Downtown Bend may be a destination for diners and shoppers, but it also appears to be heavily trafficked by coffee drinkers.
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There are at least seven traditional coffee shops in the downtown area, as well as numerous other restaurants that brew espressos, cappuccinos and cafe mochas.
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Among those seven are two that have opened since the start of the year: Sisters Coffee Co., in a shared location with Subway at 939 N.W. Bond St., and Lone Pine Coffee Roasters, at 845 Tin Pan Alley.
Can that many coffee shops make it in such a small market? Many say yes, due to the growth of America’s coffee culture.
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“I think it’s always been fascinating that a brand like Starbucks can have a location downtown and we can still have half a dozen independent coffee houses flourish,” said Chuck Arnold, executive director of the Downtown Bend Business Association. “Guess there’s just such nuance in coffee tastes and flavors, and the style of roasting that allow for a diverse amount of choices in such a small market.”
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Relative to restaurants, it doesn’t take as much money to open a coffee shop, said Kenneth Olson, publisher of the Portland-based Barista Magazine, a bimonthly publication for coffee retailers. Combine that with growing demand for coffee, and you have the grounds for expansion, he said.
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“Starbucks really opened people’s perception to coffee being something worth spending more money on,” Olson said. “We’d talk to (coffee shops) who had seen a Starbucks open nearby, and what we found is that it didn’t drive business away but increased business because people who hadn’t tried specialty coffee before were now willing to try Starbucks because of the strength of the brand name, and before long, maybe the line at Starbucks was too long, so they tried the shop next door, or would hear of other places from neighbors.
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“Starbucks was a sort of gateway, and people were willing to be a little more adventurous,” Olson said.
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Conventional wisdom holds that consumers pull back on discretionary spending during economic downturns, including the daily purchase of $4 specialty coffees. Starbucks reported an 8.5 percent dip in sales among stores open at least a year in its fiscal second quarter ended March 29 compared with the same quarter a year ago, attributing the decline to consumer cutbacks.
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Olson countered that while sales may be down in the coffee shop industry as a whole, there’s still growth happening.
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“Coffee drinks are an affordable luxury during an economic downturn,” Olson said. “People can still go and feel indulgent and feel like they are having a nice break for $3.50 to $5.”
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Roughly half the U.S. population drinks coffee, averaging 3.1 cups a day, according to E-Imports, a Vancouver, Wash., company that specializes in “espresso business solutions.” On its Web site, www.e-importz.com, it says the average number of coffee drinks an independent coffee shop serves each day is 250.
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Rare, though, is the coffee shop that makes enough money to cover its costs by selling nothing but coffee, Olson said. He wouldn’t guess what the average markup on a coffee drink might be due to the number of variables, but he said most coffee shops sell pastries, sandwiches or other items to stay in the black.
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And they don’t just rely on the morning coffee drinker, Olson said. Coffee shops still sell a majority of their drinks during breakfast hours, but sales tend to continue throughout the day due to the environments the coffee shops create, such as offering free Wi-Fi for Internet users and their being comfortable places to loiter.
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Greg Lockett, a Seattle man living in Bend for the summer, was at the Starbucks in downtown Bend on Thursday. Lockett telecommutes and said he prefers to do most of his work from the comfort of Starbucks rather than the chaos of home, where he has two small children.
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And he said he always gets the same order: a large drip coffee, bottle of water and fruit cup.
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“I feel guilty sometimes sitting in Starbucks for four hours having a single cup of coffee, but I will get a little snack to let them know I’m still shopping,” Lockett said.
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At Bellatazza, 869 N.W. Wall St., Wednesday morning, sitting at an outdoor table watching traffic go by while waiting for his wife’s hair appointment to finish, was Redmond resident Charlie Cameron. He said he’s a big fan of coffee and generally visits a different coffee shop every time he comes downtown.
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“(Bellatazza) has great staff and a terrific location — you can sit outside and watch the traffic — but I also like DiLusso’s. They’ve got great baked goods. And there’s Starbucks, the old standby.”
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Jim Wilson, owner of Bond Street Barbershop, said he generally grabs a cup of coffee every morning from Thump, on Minnesota Avenue. Wilson said he’s always rushing to open his shop and doesn’t have time to linger in the cafe, but he has to order his morning jolt.
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“Thump, it’s so good,” Wilson said. “I don’t know what they do. It’s something about their beans.”
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Roasting, along with origin and preparation, is one of the important factors that sets a coffee’s flavor. Over the years, a number of boutique roasters have opened in Bend, including Lone Pine Coffee Roasters on Tin Pan Alley.
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The company used to be based in Madras, but owners Scott and Anna Witham decided to relocate to Bend to be closer to their customers.
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Anna Witham said they had always imagined opening a coffee shop to complement their roasting operation. When they found their current location, they went for it, even though they’re but a few steps away from Thump.
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“We kind of thought there were a lot of coffee shops downtown, but it was the perfect spot for us, and we thought we couldn’t pass it up,” she said. “There are a lot of coffee shops downtown, but they serve different people in different ways. Bend definitely has a fun coffee culture.”
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Bend’s coffee culture hasn’t been without its casualties. Steve Helt, the owner of Zydeco Kitchen & Cocktails and the nearby bar 28, closed a small cafe he operated in the lobby of the St. Claire Place building on June 5. Helt cited the number of coffee shops downtown as one reason he closed, though he also wants to focus more attention on his restaurants.
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But competition has been a plus for Bend Mountain Coffee, 180 N.W. Oregon Ave., said owner Gordon Fong. “If people can go some other place to get their coffee, it really just brings the level of quality up,” Fong said.
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It also helps to groom a loyal local following, he said.
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For Merrideth Telfer, the owner of Balay, a small coffee shop at 961½ N.W. Brooks St. along the Deschutes River near the Pine Tavern, grooming a loyal local following also has been important, she said. So has been marketing her location along the river and her speciality drinks, including bubble tea, a drink mixed with milk and balls of tapioca.
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“We all have our own little niche, which I think is why it works,” Telfer said. “You’re trying to do something to set yourself apart from the person that is a block away, so you definitely have to stay on the ball.”
Andrew Moore can be reached at 541-617-7820 or at amoore@bendbulletin.com.
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Comment:
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I am a coffee drinker, not just an ordinary one, but a coffee drinker that cannot live without coffee. Even though i haven't tasted Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee yet, many people said that its the best coffee in the world. So maybe these coffee shops must not only have their own niche for each of them but must also sell the best coffee in the world so that coffee drinkers will always come to them. They must not remain an ordinary coffee shop, but they must become JAMAICAN BLUE MOUNTAIN COFFEE RETAILERS.
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