I was bummed to read that Temple is opening a coffee shop at around 22nd and L (can't recall the exact block). It's only a few blocks from The Mill, which is itself only a few blocks from the Weatherstone. I feel like it's kind of a Starbucks move on the part of Temple (strong words!). I LOVE The Mill and they are just starting out and doing so well I don't want anything to mess it up. Oversaturation is a real thing and there aren't an unlimited amount of coffee customers in my hood. It is sure to filter off some of them. Dick move.
What does Nick at The Mill say? Perhaps "dick move" is an over-reaction?
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I thought it was a dick move because aren't they moving right next door to the place that is going to serve Blue Bottle? It was only to be 'to go' or something?
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Yeah, here's the article
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cowtowneats.com/2014/07/dining-news-blue-bottle-comes-to-town-sort-of-.html
I thought Temple was moving into the old jewelers at 22nd and K, but that must be the Blue Bottle place? I spend a lot of time in that area (because it's right next to Art Beast) and I have been dying for coffee over there. It's not that close to 18th and I -- there's been a coffee shop there for a while (Butch & Nellie's et al) but it's pretty far out of my way if I'm on foot, and even Old Soul is not all that close. It sounds like Temple and the Blue Bottle place are really close together, but I for one am THRILLED that there will be a non-Starbucks/Peet's option in that part of midtown. I've been wishing for it for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteTemple is going in at that old jewelers, so it will be right next door, I guess.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/02/17/temple-coffee-adding-location-on-sacramentos-grid.html
Naw,
ReplyDeleteWe ain't over-saturated yet.
Besides, I Street might as well be a different time zone than K Street when it comes to coffee shop saturation.
The place next door isn't actually a Blue Bottle coffee shop, it's a coworking space that will include a built-in cafe serving Blue Bottle coffee. So there's kind of an in-house customer base for the coworking space/Blue Bottle. Most coworking spaces are somewhat open to the public but they aren't really the same as a just plain coffee shop, non-coworking coffee shop goers may not go in there at all.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, it's several blocks away from the Mill, with Weatherstone in between the two. Meanwhile there really aren't any coffee shops except a Starbuck's in the northeastern quadrant of the "grid" east of 21st Street. In Midtown, a few blocks matters, especially if it's on the other side of a busy street. Meanwhile, there are also more people moving into Midtown--so the saturation point for maximum number of coffee shops is going up.
Just to let you know Beth, it's now the Mill and they have really good coffee, which as Scott pointed out to me, happens to be Temple coffee. So hopefully this is all good with everyone. No one can definitively say that it won't oversaturate or siphon business away. My unique case with the Mill is that I mostly make coffee at home, but would hit up Insight in South Side if I didn't - even though it's all the way across town from my house. I just liked Insight more than closer places. Now that the Mill has opened in my hood I always go there. So I didn't spend much at Insight, but now I spend nothing.
ReplyDeleteAn example of a surprising economic effect is that when Trader Joes opened in Davis, the Davis Co-op lost about 10% of its business. They are not that close together location-wise and it's surprising because they offer really different types of products. But that's what our newsletter said. Luckily, they had budgeted for a loss. So it's hard to guess about these things.
I think, as with breweries righ, we are now or will soon be at a non-sustainable number. Which will be the first brewery to go out of business? Is it smart for so many to open? I'm not saying that competition will ever end, I'm just bummed that this bigger, more established business could cause the Mill to lose business. I think they could open somewhere else if they need to keep expanding.
I'm no expert, but I think that 6 blocks is a safe buffer zone in the coffee world. It's not like opening a Home Depot 6 blocks away from a mom-and-pop hardware store. If anything, this seems more like a broadside at Peet's and Starbuck's.
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