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Tickers Coffee has been operating in the Westwood Shopping Center for about five years.
Pablo Cuadrado, owner of Tickers Coffee in the Westwood Shopping Center, makes a latte for a customer.
John Miller and Melissa Howard have been Tickers Coffee customers since the business started about five years ago. |
By CATHY JETT
Pablo Cuadrado's first response to learning that a Starbucks was opening next to his coffee shop was, admittedly, a tad cocky.
"I thought, 'Bring it on!'" said the owner of Tickers Coffee in Westwood Shopping Center on State Route 3.
Then it hit him, as jolting as an extra-strength cuppa joe. After building up his independent business for five years, he'd be playing David to the Goliath of the gourmet coffee business.
"It's kinda like Wal-Mart," he said.
But as the stone-fronted Starbucks building went up where a Long John Silver's used to stand, Cuadrado began to reconsider. Perhaps, just perhaps, there might be room enough in the newly renovated Fredericksburg retail center for both businesses.
"What Starbucks does is bring activity to an area," he said. "It might help. I'm thinking on the positive side."
And he's got his fingers crossed that customers queuing up in the drive-through line at Starbucks will look over and see the Tickers sign while they're waiting for their Frappuccinos.
Cuadrado, who used to own an independent auto parts store in Queens, N.Y., is right to be optimistic, said Mike Ferguson, marketing communications director for the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Having a Starbucks open is no longer the kiss of death for nearby independents that it once was.
"The first wave of people opening coffeehouses were passionate about coffee, but weren't necessarily businesspeople," he said. "They had issues with competing. Today, they've either gone out of business or become businesspeople."
As an example, he cited a short stretch of road near his Long Beach, Calif., office that has two Starbucks, a regional chain coffee shop and two independent coffeehouses. They're all thriving, and one independent's business actually shot up 40 percent after the Starbucks stores opened because he focused more attention on inventory control and teaching his staff salesmanship.
"Starbucks has 34 [percent] to 37 percent of the market. It fluctuates," Ferguson said. "But independents stay steady at 51 percent. No matter how many stores Starbucks opens, the independents keep pace. It's like consumers almost need that option of having the independent."
Starbucks, for its part, does not want to be seen as Tickers' competitor, said Carter Bentzel, Starbucks' marketing manager for this region.
"We serve a different customer," she said.
Tickers is a laid-back place where customers can order an espresso, eat a made-to-order sandwich and catch up on the latest stock reports on a big-screen TV. Customers can even get dial-up Internet access for their laptops and hold meetings.
"There's a calmness about the place," Cuadrado said. "You don't get that rush in, rush out feeling. Some customers spend three or four hours here doing work or homework."
The new Starbucks, which faces State Route 3, is designed more for those who are in a hurry. Besides the drive-through window, it offers pre-made sandwiches and salads along with an extensive line of desserts. There is a seating area inside with Wi-Fi Internet access, but it is smaller than Tickers'.
"A lot of people have to go fast, fast, quick," said Bentzel. "We want them to have a chance to get coffee on the run. It's definitely a great strategy for us, and it helps out our customer."
Plus, she said, Starbucks' baristas and coffee masters help to create an awareness of the wide variety of coffees available, how to prepare them and which foods go best with different beans and roasts.
"Customers might find out that they like a coffee someone else has better," she said. "Maybe the other store has a hazelnut coffee that they like."
Starbucks often is a customer's introduction to "gourmet" coffee, and definitely has helped create a market for it, said Bruce Milletto, president of Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup Inc., a Eugene, Ore., company that provides consulting services to independent coffeehouses.
"But the great thing about coffee is that the individual entrepreneur can certainly compete with the large chains," he said. "People really relish having 'their' coffee bar. They really relish having something that's special to them and not generic."
Cuadrado, however, isn't content to play it safe. He's making some changes to keep the customer base he's got and attract new patrons. A small sign now graces a front window, for example, to let passersby know that Tickers sells breakfast and lunch in addition to coffee, tea, shakes and smoothies.
"I felt that was important, because people would say, 'I didn't know you sold food,'" Cuadrado said. "Actually, I should have done that much sooner."
And he's thinking of upgrading his dial-up connection to high-speed Internet access.
Cuadrado also plans to play up his strengths. He's free to change his menu whenever he wants, which he did last year by adding chicken salad sandwiches to his lineup.
"It was an instant success," he said.
And Cuadrado will continue to offer free salsa dancing on Friday nights, and allow the Fredericksburg Congregational Church to hold services at Tickers on Sundays, when the business is closed.
So far, the store is having its busiest month since it opened, largely because the Lone Star restaurant anchoring one corner of Westwood Shopping Center has been closed for renovations.
"We'll get a better idea of how our business has been affected next month after Lone Star re-opens," he said.
And Cuadrado is getting a break on his rent in exchange for not asking his landlord to honor the non-compete clause in his lease.
"I think there's room for both of us. They don't have the lunch business or the atmosphere that we do, and we have a loyal client base," he said. "I've always wanted to be a little bit different than Starbucks."
To reach CATHY JETT:
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com
