# Percentage of footfall likely to become customers?



## martinlauren1968 (Apr 17, 2013)

Morning all!

And hello as this is my first post...

Me and the mrs are thinking about starting up a coffee shop and deli, specializing in sandwiches etc made with local produce (and possibly eventually some

Vietnamese food). Over the last 2 years we have been travelling and have seen all sorts of coffee shops/restaurants which is what got us originally thinking, especially in Australia and NZ, some amazing places there! We are both massive foodies and have run catered chalets in the alps for 2 seasons either side of travelling, so we can both prepare food to a good standard and we love doing it. I have a small amount of experience working in a Vietnamese restaurant which was also a kind of coffee shop.

My question is... with regards to location, is there any rough (i know, how long is a piece of string) percentage of footfall which you can depend on for custom (understanding that if the service/coffee is crap then the custom will not follow)?

I ask this as we are looking at a train station local to us that currently has no coffee shop/stand, i know from research that the station see's approximately 400,000 people passing through per year, this equates to around 33,000 every month. Obviously a lot of these will be commuters etc, but home many would be likely to buy from us?

Another plus of the location is that my mrs currently uses said station, which is a station that requires a change to get to London, and she says that as soon as everyone gets to the interchange station they flock into the cafe there, so on the face of it, it looks like a good bet...

Thanks for any replies, will be interesting to get some views...

Martin


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

Setting up at a station is a great idea as you will see a lt f the same people every day! Once people realise that there is good quality coffee and nibbles to be had, they usually come back (that's been my experience anyway!!) Have you thought of setting up a stall or van initially to keep your overheads down? I run a Piaggio Ape coffee van and rely on train passengers, taxis and people going to work for the bulk of my trade. I'll be happy to help with any questions you may have - if I can!

Andy


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Welcome to Coffee Forums UK Martin

I'm glad you've qualified the type of area.

Gauging footfall and guesstimating how many commuters will be customers is extremely difficult.

There is a high street near me which has low footfall but a targeted coffee shop might do well.

About 300m away is another high street with decent footfalll but caters to the wrong demographic.

This shows that footfall canot be used in isolation when deciding on a venue.

Lots of time poor people might not translate into many sales if there are frequent trains

Are seats available on the train or will people be standing?

If there is a large gap between trains and seats available then turnover is likely to be higher.

Good luck with your research.


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## martinlauren1968 (Apr 17, 2013)

Thanks for the replies. Coffeebean, we would prefer to set up within the station and are looking into possibilities of this at first, but if not then a van maybe a good option.

Glenn, trains are not very frequent at the station (approx 1 per hour, slightly more at peak times) seating could be a possibility, although i would not imagine there would be loads, maybe a few stools and a couple of small tables with chairs.

Ta

Martin


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Im exploring this very topic right now. Maybe speak to some local businesses / cafes / food outlets and ask some cheeky questions


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## painty (Jul 25, 2011)

1234567890


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## martinlauren1968 (Apr 17, 2013)

Not sure if you meant to leave a blank message Painty lol.


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