Market saturation point?

[Darrenbrett]

Hi all. I have thought about opening a coffee shop for some time now since I A.) love great coffee and B.) I love great ethos (in-house environment). What I'm wondering is, when does a place have more coffee shops than can be supported by the population? It seems like new stores pop up monthly sometimes. Any ideas on coffee-house saturation points?

 

[Alun_evans]

Can you have too much of a good thing....? I think not. If you can find your market niche, produce excellent coffee, give excellent service in an unique atmosphere you will stand out from the crowd. Just think of the longest running successful restaurants in BC. They have survived and prospered because of a combination of the above and perhaps location. Of course opening a business of any sort is always a risk. Minimise the chances of anything going wrong by spending some time and money working on a business plan with professionals.

 

[Quink]

I agree, that there has to be a saturation point where, there is no more business to be had, apart from your neighbours customers (sounds like star$ doesn't it). So the inevitable price and quality drops come in to entice business in, then if you market a quality product would people rather buy that than the cheep one. The economics of this could get very deep. There is a shopping mall near where I live that has at least 5 coffee stalls in it, they have been there since the place opened so they obviously make money somehow despite being no more than 70 yards apart.
So all I can say is get a good location for your shop and work from there

 

[EspressoOutfitters]

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[Coffee Guy]

What is a coffee saturation point? Is there such a thing? :shock: