September 29th, 2008
This story was told to me by Terri Strapp. She and her family run a coffeehouse here in downtown Columbus called Cornerstone Coffee. It is directly across the street from the Renaissance Hotel, situated on the corner of Third and Gay streets.
One evening close to closing time, a young well dressed women came in to Cornerstone Coffee. They exchanged greetings and she wondered if she was too late to get a smoothie. Terri assured her she could get whatever she wanted and she ordered. Terri likes to know where her clients come from, that is to say she usually asks if they work close by and if they want to start a loyalty card. The women politely declined, but told her why she stopped that evening. She was the administrative assistant of an attorney who was attending a function at the hotel across the street. It seemed that every time he and his wife would look over at the coffeehouse, someone would come out smiling and laughing. This impressed the couple, and they decided then and there that they HAD to visit CornerStone Coffee and find out why everyone was so happy when they left! As of this writing I don’t know if the attorney and his wife ever made it in, but the assistant was happy when she left.
The moral of the story: You never really know who is watching you. You also never really know what affect you may have on the people you come into contact with. This is both challenging and scary. It makes me want to be polite at all times with those I interact with and frankly, that takes work! It pays off in the long run though. Makes me wonder how many people remember the bald Gary Coleman look alike in the big white truck (yes, that would be me)…seriously, it makes you think doesn’t it?
With that , I thank you for visiting the B-Side.
Posted in The B Side -- Bryan Hairston's Take | No Comments »
September 17th, 2008
As you may be aware, a wind storm hit Ohio as a result of hurricane Ike that passed through Texas. Lots of Ohioians are without power, including many CrimsonCup employees. Many of us haven’t had power since Sunday afternoon, and are still without power. Below is a picture of one of the trees that came down in Brooke’s yard (she’s our Marketing Director).
Luckily, CrimsonCup World Wide Headquarters has not lost power, and has become a haven for many of us. It was really nice to be able to come to work on Monday and enjoy a cup of coffee while charging our cellphones and sharing epic tales of how the great power outage of 2008 has affected us all.
Over the last few days several schools have been closed, and we’ve had lots of kids in and out of our offices. Here is a picture of Cole (Brooke’s son) and our very own Janie. 
Do not be fooled! These two were not working in a coal mine or as extras on the set of Mary Poppins during the “Chim, Chim, Cher-ee” performance. Somehow these two trouble makers managed to get into a fight using the eraser of the dry erase board (note the large dry erase board in the background).
Needless to say…we have all managed to weather the storm, and thankfully we’re all okay. We’ve been very lucky to have power and are so happy that we have been able to continue to do what we love to do; make, package, and provide great coffee to our Community and our consumers!
Till next time, take care of each other and Peace Out!
Anna
Posted in News from CrimsonCup Worldwide Headquarters | No Comments »
September 12th, 2008
At CrimsonCup we receive many questions about who we are and what we do, so we’ve decided to take some time to educate our readers about CrimsonCup and the CrimsonCup Community. Our most frequently asked question is:
What’s the difference between a CrimsonCup coffee house, a coffee house franchise, and an independent coffee house?
- A CrimsonCup coffee house is a business opportunity, similar to a partnership that combines the benefits of a franchise and the freedom of an independent coffee house. This program allows coffee house owners to design the look and feel of their coffee house, while receiving the support that a coffee franchise provides without charging the fees associated with owning a coffee franchise. Through CrimsonCup, owners receive a coffee house business plan template, professional site evaluation, coffee bar layout, an equipment package, store opening inventory, and a comprehensive training program. Once the business owner is up and running, CrimsonCup continues to support the coffee shop owner by providing coffee shop menu boards, pricing guides, a complete drink recipe book, promotional signage, merchandising tools and marketing signs, operating manuals and checklists, continuing marketing support, and the world’s best coffee and tea products. Since the coffee shop owner purchases CrimsonCup’s coffee and tea products, the arrangement is truly like a partnership. When the coffee house succeeds, CrimsonCup succeeds.
- A coffee house franchise is a business opportunity in which a business buyer (franchisee) has a relationship with a larger organization (franchisor) that controls the standardization of their business practices. A franchisor collects a fee up front from the business buyer and also collects an on-going percentage of sales, usually around 6%, from the franchisee. In this type of relationship the franchisor also controls the look of the coffee house, the marketing for the coffee house and numerous other things to ensure the franchise brand is protected and consistent from store to store. This often means the franchisee adhere to numerous strict guidelines in order to be a part of the franchise. Examples of coffee house franchise opportunities are:Biggby Coffee, Cuppy’s Coffee, and The Coffee Beanery.
- An independent coffee house is a business run by an independent owner without the use of a consultant, partner, or advisor. This type of coffee house arrangement is often chosen because it allows the owner to have control of the look, feel, and layout of their coffee house. The danger in owning this type of coffee shop is that the owner often has little training in the coffee business. Having a lack of knowledge and no support system makes running a viable coffee shop exceptionally difficult.
For more information visit our website
Tags: coffee shops in Ohio, midwest coffee, ohio coffee, ohio coffee roasters, ohio house coffee shop, ohio state coffee
Posted in CrimsonCup vs. Coffee Franchise | No Comments »
September 2nd, 2008
Did anyone else read that Starbucks has purchased The Clover, an $ 11,000 automatic coffee maker? Starbucks bought The Clover Company and they will now be the exclusive owners of this push button machine. Starbucks claims that it is a “key initiative in transforming the company.” Very interesting, this direction seems to be a huge contradiction to Howard Schultz’ previous message on what he believed was wrong with Starbucks. Howard wrote a memo last year explaining the Starbucks decline, one major reason he cited was the super-automatic espresso machines had sacrificed the ‘Starbucks’ experience,
Hmmm, so now it appears that it’s a good idea to add more automation to the experience? I have a thought, why doesn’t Starbucks automate the WHOLE coffee experience? Fire all the baristas, place super-automatics in all the “cookie cutter stores” (Howard’s words, not mine), and have the customer push the button at the drive-thru window. Now that’s a super sized automatic coffee experience.
Posted in CrimsonCup vs. Coffee Franchise | 1 Comment »
