# Can there be too many coffee shops?



## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

This Council seems to think so: http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=1004003

I've an open mind on the issue. I can see that it's right to let the marketplace decide (by profitability) how many coffee shops an area can stand. But I can also see that a variety of shops is essential in any town centre.

It wasn't that long ago that every vacant town centre premises was being turned into a wine bar/pub, but that market has now passed. Have coffee shops stepped into the breech?

I'm interested to know what those in the business think.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Taking this specific case, I've been to Henley loads. There aren't too many coffee shops in my view and I see no reason why anyone would think there is.

Looking wider, not sure it's possible to generalise. Each street and town needs to be assessed on it's merits. There can be too many coffeeshops, but if I had to generalise I'd say that there aren't at the moment, and when there are, it self-regulates. There's nothing preventing other forms of retailer taking on the same properties that the coffeeshops take on. Shoe shops have fewer planning requirements than coffee shops.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

There are way too many chain shops and not enough independents IMHO.


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

There can be too many of any type of shop - not just coffee shops, and as Mike says, if the numbers do get a bit high, the market tends to self regulate. I think that anyone thinking of starting a coffee shop should aim to offer the best coffee in their area and aim to offer the best customer service. Coffee shops that offer bad coffee and have rude or ignorant staff tend to lose cutomers (self regulation!). There are a lot of cafes in the town I live in but I would only buy coffee from 2 of them!


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