Why Not have Tea Parties At Your Coffee Shop?
Apr 26th, 2008 by Karyn Lewis
Why not have tea parties at your coffee shop? You already have the elements that will make it work. Chances are your coffee shop serves tea to accommodate those guests that don’t like coffee. You will have tables, chairs, and plenty of cups to serve the drinks in. What you may not have are customers that are coming in during the afternoons and this type of arrangement can take care of some of that lag time.
You can schedule such tea parties one weekday afternoon and many people will make reservations to come. In fact you will likely see some regulars that come in every week. If that is too much for you though you can choose to feature them on Saturday or Sunday afternoon each month. Some parents may approach you to schedule a tea party for their child’s birthday as well.
Some coffee shop owners don’t want to go to a great deal of hassle in order to host these tea parties. There is really no reason though why you would have to go this route. You can keep things simple and still draw a very good crowd to your tea party events. If you wish to host something more elaborate though you certainly can do so. The price of the tea party should reflect this as well as what you offer.
Make sure you advertise the menu for your tea party as well. Guests will want to know if they are only going to get drinks. You may choose to offer that alone with many different types of tea. You can choose to offer sandwiches, desserts, or both to complete the tea party as well. It is important for your guests to know what to expect will be waiting for them when they arrive.
Plan your tea parties well in advance so you have time to advertise. The first few you will likely need to really work on spreading the word. After that though you will probably have plenty of people eagerly waiting for them to roll around again. Keep a good log for reservations and don’t book more people than you easily have room to accommodate.
You may want to consider having some entertainment for the tea parties as well. This can liven things up and give those that come back regularly something new to look forward to. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate or expensive in order to be a great hit. At the vary least offer some music that goes well with a tea party.
Talk to your staff before hand to let them know about your tea part plans. Many of them will have ideas you can implement. They need to understand what their role will be in it as well. They may be perfect for working behind the counter but need some training in how to effectively work in this new set up.
If you haven’t considered using your coffee shop for hosting tea parties you may want to give it a try. It isn’t going to be difficult to get into motion and they should get a very nice crowd drawn in. Many of these adults may not have come to your coffee shop before. There is a very good chance they will start coming in on a regular basis as well as for future tea parties.
About the Author:
Karyn Lewis writes about the ups and downs of the coffee shop business. Avoid the rookie mistakes many new operators make when they buy a coffee shop and read more coffee related articles at her site.