Comment 37283

By Meredith (registered) - website | Posted January 21, 2010 at 18:08:37

There needs to be a higher-end coffee shop downtown because of its function.

Tim Hortons is not it. Tim's is not a meeting place for professionals or a place people can work in except the ones that have a different design, layout and product line (and those are very few and far between - if you can tell me which Tim Hortons in Ontario still serves the cappuccinos and lattes that were canceled at all other locations, and has power outlets for laptops the other ones are designed to exclude, you'll have some credibility in my mind.

Brand recognition will help a lot, especially in the initial stages. Some independents would be great, but I think there needs to be an anchor first.

Corporate-owned like Starbucks won't locate there (unless a lot more people than me email them)

However, a franchise is a whole different story.

But there's nothing to stop an independent person from opening a Second Cup franchise in Gore Park - they just need the startup capital to do that, and an understanding of how to build business clientele. You can bet if there was a good cafe to hold daytime meetings and work in at night, it would be busy all the time. Because to get that 2-3 hours of uninterrupted work time with an outlet for my laptop and an environment free of distraction, I have to travel to Westdale or Locke, and that's often not worth the hassle.

(Skydragon is open only till 10 and too distracting, but is great in its own way. Nothing bad on them -- but a SC or the like at the Gore would fill a different niche).

Comment edited by administrator Ryan on 2010-01-21 22:50:53

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose... being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." - G.B. Shaw

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