Watched a small coffee shop go from 20 customers a day to 150 in 6 months... here's what they did different

There's a little place near my apartment in Austin that was barely hanging on last spring. I'd go in and see maybe 3 people sitting around at 10am. The owner looked stressed all the time. Then around August they started doing these little pop up events in the parking lot on Saturdays. Like a local baker selling cookies, a guy with vinyl records, nothing huge. But it brought people in. Then they got a real point of sale system instead of that old tablet thing and started a loyalty card. After 6 months the place is packed every morning now. I even tried to go yesterday and the line was out the door. The owner actually smiled at me for the first time ever. Has anyone else seen a business turn around just from small changes like that without spending a ton of money?

3 comments

3 Comments

lopez.simon1mo ago

Fix the basics first, the flashy stuff comes later.

paige861mo ago

Think about the vibe shift too though. That parking lot pop up thing basically transformed the whole mood of the place overnight. People started treating it like a hangout spot instead of just a coffee stop. I bet the owner stopped looking so stressed because suddenly there was a reason to show up besides making lattes. The loyalty card probably helped but the real change was making the shop feel like an event, not a transaction. That's something you can't buy with a POS system lol.

max4151mo ago

Did one of my buddies see the same spot? He was telling me about this coffee shop in Dallas that did exactly the pop up thing with a food truck and suddenly everyone was hanging out there. Said the owner told him it was cheaper than remodeling.