# Railway stations



## Alan (Mar 3, 2014)

Almost 4 years after my original post, the local council is thinking about a change in policy. As such I might be able to move forward with my plan for a coffee cart at a local railway station. The station has approx' 160000 passengers per year. Many of these will be people travelling to work between 6 and 9. These are the core hours I wish to operate through to 10.30 as the station dies off.

Does anyone have any experience of operating a small site like this who would mind sharing.


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## BertVanGoo (Nov 20, 2015)

Hi Alan,

I'm in a similar situation and have been offered a spot at a train station that I've been keen on for a while. I was told by plenty of locals that it was busy and there was nothing else to buy from.

I did a footfall count the other day and had 287 between the 5:45 and 8:45 train. Which to me isn't enough people, unless a high percentage buy regularly. I'm going back a couple of more times to see what the average is and to try and gauge a better idea.

I would be there until about 9:30 so need to count until then ideally, but even so the busiest train is 7:15 and then starts to fall again.

Personally I'd recommend going there to count people and ask the station manager if you can do some canvassing maybe?

Not sure if @coffeebean might be able to assist us both here with his knowledge?


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

I suppose it depends how much they charge you for the pitch - if it is not very much then that kind of footfall would be great. If you were there til 9.30 you could probably expect another 100 or so going past so probably between 350 and 400 overall. I typically sell between 50 and 100 cups a day working 7.30 til 12, 5 days a week and make a reasonable living. I am lucky to have very low pitch fees though and that makes a big difference


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## BertVanGoo (Nov 20, 2015)

coffeebean said:


> I suppose it depends how much they charge you for the pitch - if it is not very much then that kind of footfall would be great. If you were there til 9.30 you could probably expect another 100 or so going past so probably between 350 and 400 overall. I typically sell between 50 and 100 cups a day working 7.30 til 12, 5 days a week and make a reasonable living. I am lucky to have very low pitch fees though and that makes a big difference


Pitch is low, but then they want 10% of the gross sales, which I guess I could look to cost that in to the selling price.


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

With a coffee cart, overheads are pretty low and the margins on the cups of coffee you sell are good so yes, factor in the 10% of gross sales into your selling price and I'm sure it's viable!


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## Alan (Mar 3, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. Luckily it will be a street trader position not governed by the railway.


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

...... and if you need a great price on kitting out a van, let me know!


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## Alan (Mar 3, 2014)

Oh well, heard today that it is more important to have a free parking space than to create revenue. Onward and upwards. Thinking cap back on


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

Alan said:


> Oh well, heard today that it is more important to have a free parking space than to create revenue. Onward and upwards. Thinking cap back on


Parking space doesn't have to be free of charge for the business to succeed.......


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## Alan (Mar 3, 2014)

The reason is that the entrance to the station is through a free car park. My proposal is to use the space by the gate which is not a car parking space. However they think that the entrance will be affected. So I would need a space to operate from. At this stage I might get in touch with Rail Track and see if I can go on the station where I know there is space. The downside is that it will cost more.


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