Why do indie coffee shops close so early?
I love a coffee shop that stays open late (by UK standards). — Brian Williams
A tweet raises an interesting point, why do indie coffee shops in England close so early?
I like to finish what I am doing of an afternoon, then sit and relax in a coffee shop with a coffee. Only I cannot, as by then they are closed, or closing.
I have to rush what I am doing, finish by mid-afternoon, to catch the coffee shop before it closes.
I have then defeated my purpose of going there, to sit and relax.
People finish their shopping, finish wandering around, leave work, want to sit and relax with a coffee, only they cannot, or at least they cannot in an indie coffee shop. The chains are still open, they end up in a chain and it becomes a bad habit.
Glutton & Glee, now under new owners with a silly name, the staff are at the door at four thirty greeting customers with ‘we close in half an hour’.
How to make customers feel welcome, I think not, without really trying.
I have sat and watched a steady stream of potential customers turned away in that last half hour.
I have sat at the back of Glutton & Glee, amongst the decaying furniture that has seen better days and had a visitor pose the question, why are they turning away customers who have money rattling in their pocket they wish to spend?
Why indeed? I have often wondered why?
Not only wondered, I have asked.
The answer goes something like this.
If we stay open longer, we have to pay the staff.
This answer defies logic.
You pay staff the hours you are open. You are are turning away customers that if they bought three cappuccinos, a cake or two, you have already covered the cost of paying the Living Wage let alone the Minimum Wage. Your fixed costs are just that, fixed, whether open five hours or twenty hours.
Look at the demographics in Guildford, wealthy middle class who are used to being in Europe, visitors from overseas, students, migrant workers. All are used to coffee shops being open late.
I am used to being in coffee shops until early evening, late at night, early hours of the morning.
Europeans friends I talk to are completely at a loss why coffee shops close so early. As am I.
In the summer, should be open until at least six, midsummer until at least seven. In the winter it is different, cold and wet and dark, wish to hurry home.
There needs to be flexibly. If sorry have an appointment, have the kids to pick up, that is different.
Nor would I dream of asking for a coffee when I see the machine is about to be cleaned for the night.
