Jan

30

Broadway Cafe in the New York Times

January 30, 2008 | 9 Comments

Today the Broadway Cafe in Westport appears on the front page of the New York Times. The topic is trouble at Starbucks, and Broadway Cafe’s encounter with a Starbucks next door is the prime example.

Flickr photo by sparrowsfall

Categories: Business, Media, Midtown/Plaza


Comments

9 Comments so far

  1. ChrisM70 on January 30, 2008 1:37 pm

    Am I wrong, but wasn’t the reason for Starbuck’s closing that location based on the opening ANOTHER NEW location not too far away?
    I was under the impression that it wasn’t that the Broadway Cafe ran Starbuck’s off, but that Starbuck’s wanted an even bigger building – and that had nothing to do with the Broadway Cafe.

    I would love to be wrong, but it sounds like NYT has a storyline that the “little guy can beat the big guy” and that Starbucks is in trouble, and doesn’t want facts getting in the way.

    If I”m wrong, please let me know.

  2. mainstream on January 30, 2008 1:58 pm

    That’s exactly right Chris – the new Starbuck on Main Street has at least 3 things the Broadway one doesn’t:

    (1) parking
    (2) easy access once you’ve parked
    (3) drivethru

    Starbucks clearly cannibalized itself here, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

    BUT – it’s nice to see the Broadway Cafe get the publicity…

  3. Bryan on January 30, 2008 2:45 pm

    While not calling out the Starbucks on Main Street by name, the NYT article says “In the nearly 10 years since the Starbucks opened next door, three more opened within a mile or so. And yet, the Broadway Cafe remained popular.”

  4. mainstream on January 30, 2008 10:22 pm

    that’s a good perspective, Bryan.

  5. Bill on January 31, 2008 9:26 am

    Yes, the Main street store was responsible for the Broadway store’s closure. I go to both frequently, their customer bases couldn’t be more different.

  6. ChrisM70 on January 31, 2008 12:12 pm

    Bill, I don’t know if you are being facetious, but if the customer bases couldn’t be more different, then wouldn’t that mean that each store’s business wouldn’t really effect the other?

  7. Broadway KC on January 31, 2008 4:27 pm

    [...] BlogKC directs us to a NYT article on how Starbucks has lost its way and one Kansas City coffee shop has shown them whose boss. I have visited Broadway Cafe, and it does have the tasty coffee neighborhood shop appeal down to a T. A tasty T infact. Tasty coffee + tasty prices = tasty hang out. Companies usually survive by satisfying customers wants or needs better than the competition. [...]

  8. Chuck on February 1, 2008 8:52 am

    The story that the Starbucks on Main street led to the closing of the Westport location is total bunk. The Main Street location has been open for a couple of years at least, and anyone who has visited other cities can see that Starbucks regularly opens locations across the street from one another if necessary for convenience sake. The two K.C. locations in question are about 1/2 mile apart (and probably don’t serve much of the same customer base).

    There have been a number of other business stories in recent weeks addressing Starbucks problems – their chairman has had to step back in to help them get back on track and they are struggling to keep customers (check out the Wall St. Journal for that story).

  9. Tim on April 9, 2008 7:22 pm

    I don’t think Starbucks would have picked up and moved locations if they were making a killing there. Perhaps they would have opened another one down the road, but they would certainly not leave a good thing, right? I can’t imagine how the main street store would be responsible for the others closure. If the one next to Broadway cafe was turning a nice profit, it seems absurd to close it, especially for a location that is no longer in the popular Westport area.

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