So I was just browsing online and saw this interesting article in The St. Louis Post Dispatch about how a group of coffee house owners are combining their marketing efforts. The purpose appears to be out of fear that as Starbucks expands its presence in the area, the independents will suffer. “We really need an organization to market local coffee business as an experience,” said Dennis Gorg, who owns Coffee Cartel in the Central West End, before the meeting. “That local flavor and flair is what a lot of people look for in a coffee house.” Welcome to ground zero of the “Coffee Locals,” a combined marketing effort to entice coffee drinkers to support locally owned coffee shops. A couple of suggestions for our friends in St. Louis (a fine place by the way, I used to live there): Start talking about the quality. Nobody mentioned the quality of the coffee in the article, and St. Louis coffee shops need to own a difference in peoples minds. Start there. Lastly, start a blog/website like this one. You just might get results.
Michael T The combining efforts is a good idea in the sense that two (or more) heads are better than one. But I hope they come up with more than Being Local, since the Walmart Effect has trampled the life out of that argument. 0 Reply July 13, 2007
Jason Haeger Kaldi? Riley’s? Quality isn’t non-existent in the STL area, but it’s not as prominent as in the west side of the state (Kansas City). I was born in STL, and lived there until I was about 12. It’s still “home” to me, even though that was years ago. 0 Reply July 14, 2007
Chris Tingom I lived there from 1990 – 1995 and in the town of Des Peres. Neat place. 0 Reply July 14, 2007
Paul Spilled Beans Espresso at Gold Canyon has now been open for three full weeks. Dispite the lack of about one-third of the ‘Winter’ population at this time, we are steadily increasing our visiting population on a daily basis. We are pleased how ‘word of mouth’ has been our best advertising. We already have regulars that share their thoughts and provide valuable suggestions for improving our business. Gold Canyon is proving to be a great location with great people. 0 Reply July 24, 2007
