Part 3: Opening an espresso bar in Paris - Location

21 Nov Part 3: Opening an espresso bar in Paris - Location

Everyone knows location is important; what is surprising is how it differs between Paris and Anglo-Saxon cities.

In the Anglo-Saxon world, coffee would be referred to in marketing parlance as an “FMCG” product. ‘FMCG’ stands for ‘”Fast Moving Consumer Goods” - products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Thus, you can open in a back alley or in the suburbs and make money in coffee. I visited Seattle for the 2015 World Barista Championship, and had to take a taxi to a leafy suburb to visit Slate Coffee Bar, one of the best in Seattle.

In France, coffee is NOT an FMCG product. Less than 10% of our coffee sales are take away. We sell up to 250 coffees a day (as a comparison, this is the number that would be sold between 7am and 9am in a busy Anglo-Saxon espresso bar - and the majority of these would be take-away).

When choosing location in Paris, there are very few locations where the balance between foot traffic and rental cost would be optimal; I would pick KB Caféshop, CREAM and Ten Belles as examples of this. To be in a really busy international area (for example, rue du Faubourg St Honoré), you can multiply the rent by three. Ditto for an outside terrace (we are a Latin country, so alfresco is desirable as soon as the sun comes out).