The Water Tower Project: Wake up and smell the coffee

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At getting prominence in the national media, Southwold has always punched above its weight. This coastal Suffolk town with a?dwindling?year-round population that recently slipped under a thousand souls has greatly?benefited?from the presence of the brewer Adnams in the town. Since 2003 their slogan 'Beer From the Coast' (now like many residents in retirement) and other marketing has used the?iconography?of Southwold's beaches, fishing boats and lighthouse for its brand identity. The spending power of the brewer plugging its beer has made Southwold and Adnams synonymous and the envy of any resort with a promotion budget limited by its precept.

Appearances?in television's 'Upstairs, Downstairs' in the 1970's have also helped while being popular with celebrities and media types for second homes has ensured the news stories of the astronomical prices of its colourful beach huts have become August?space-filling?perennials. Under this spotlight, the escapades of the town council and prominent residents in resisting change whilst the developments of a seaside pier, retro-cinema and the plans to revive a steam railway that were favoured have built for Southwold a reputation as a bastion against progress or to put it more kindly; a place were essential values are preserved.

Now Southwold has been getting a lot of press lately for resistance to the plans of the coffee shop chain Costa to open a branch in its high street.?Costa by its branding and store design clearly positions itself to compete in the fast-serving casual eat-in and take-out market along with Pret A Manger, Starbucks, Cafe Nero and EAT in serving tea, coffee, hot chocolate, pastries, cakes and sandwiches.
The townspeople grumbled when Tesco and W. H. Smith opened branches (the latter filling the void of losing two independent book shops) and clothing boutique chains Aubin ?& Wills and Fat Face arrived without a murmur but the populace drew a line in the sand (or shingle) when the chain with over 1300 branches acquired premises in June. Instead of questioning who was the local property owner who sold them down river or asking local estate agents, builders or architects not to facilitate Costa's presence (naturally that would affect local people's livelihoods), public anger was channelled towards the district council planning committee when they proved powerless - certainly on any points of law - to prevent it. I have also found it brings?opprobrium in social media to question the arguments of the Costa opponents but if their argument cannot stand my simplistic tests of reason, they certainly won't stand up to Costa.

I would posit that Costa know a good thing when they see it. Though trading conditions for many kinds of business in Southwold are difficult - Summer's peaks have to cover Winter's troughs and it is said landlords demand a premium in Southwold, a shop rent of ?80,000 p.a. was quoted for one site - it has garnered enough colour supplement exposure now to get mentioned in Coronation Street's story lines and Costa must be confident they can capture a slice of the growing market of thirsty visitors. According to?independent research consultancy Allegra Strategies:? 1 in 10 UK adults are now visiting coffee shops daily and?the UK sales are predicted reach ?3.2 billion by 2015. Coffee will continue to be seen an affordable treat and provide a much needed indulgence for consumers during challenging economic times. Meeting a friend for coffee or getting a cup to-go cannot yet be delivered on-line?nor do consumers drive to out of town stores just for a cup of coffee.?

There is a case for saying Southwold needs more coffee shops as they can generate footfall in town centres. There is a symbiosis between retail and coffee shops: if there is a good retail offer in a town, shoppers will visit and when their feet are tired, they will stop in for a coffee and meet friends and are then more likely to return. Similarly, if there is a good offer of 'social places', they will visit them and may be tempted to shop for goods and services nearby but neither is much good without the other. Costa has several?corporate?franchise partners such as Next Home and Garden offering Costa coffee shops within their stores.

One line of reasoning the Southwold Costa?objectors have taken is there are enough coffee shops already. They claimed there are 20 food and drink outlets in the centre and 11 on the outskirts that represent almost a quarter of the total number of ground-floor business premises in the town.

?It?s not because it?s some garish chain; it?s because we already have more than enough places to get a hot drink,? Robert Adey, owner of Trinity?s Tea Rooms was widely reported as saying. ?If someone had suggested a fish and chip shop, for example, that would be different as we only have one."

Well, I know there are two places I go for fish and chips in Southwold, plus all the pubs who do fish and chips, which rather undermines this position. And while there may be plenty of food and drink, they may not be coffee shops nor serving good coffee to-go or in a casual unhurried atmosphere where you can read the papers, log on with wi-fi to update your blog and so on, which is pretty much what Costa offers.

The other line of reasoning is that the presence of Costa undermines local?businesses.?Guy Mitchell, chairman of the chamber of trade, and Michael Rowan-Robinson, chairman of the Southwold and Reydon Society jointly said ?[We] will be opposing this... which we believe poses a very real threat to the unique character of Southwold High Street and to the viability of other local shops."

Preserving Southwold's unique visual character is one thing and defending that is not what I am questioning here but there's no argument for economic protectionism unless we have a Soviet economy. Some people have demanded that chains be prevented from trading in Southwold. That begs a question what size defines a chain and would they like to ban banks, petrol stations and pubs that are all chains. An idea was advanced that shops should be locally owned or that local ownership is better. Such reasoning is oblivious that franchises such as McDonalds are actually independent local businesses.

It's quite true that?local ownership has local benefits. A giant chain has?economies?of scale in physical resources and manpower that reduce its costs, it generally employs less local people and buys more materials and other services from outside the area. In comparing independent grocery cooperatives with chain supermarkets the USA (I could only find US figures) an independent had twice as many employees per million of turnover yet were no less profitable or less viable, it's just a different distribution of the profits. With an?independent, the costs eating up the profit margin are benefits going to the employees rather than shareholders. However, chain coffee shops generally don't source their beans locally neither do they source their food from local farmers which independents might but in reality many independents buy their bacon and milk from Makro or Booker like everyone else. Coffee shops are labour intensive and so create local jobs which are scarce in Suffolk.

No establishment has a right to protection to serve insipid or expensive food and drink.?If the customer wants good affordable coffee served in suitable surroundings and isn't finding it, the theory goes that the market will respond to meet the consumers' needs or the customer will go elsewhere. It also stands to reason that the wider the retail choices the customer has in a place, the more likely the customer will return to shop in that area and so everyone will benefit. A good range of food and drink will benefit the clothing boutiques, the grocer, the music and card shop as well. So the opponents of Costa ought to examine closely what niche that Costa thinks they will fill. Locals claim Costa will "hoover up" the trade and the independents cannot compete with their lower costs. They complain at their "huge resources to buy cheap" their "brand advertising ubiquity" and offshore tax position. "They big chains want to swamp small towns sucking up all the tourist trade and homogenise the UK" a Southwold local told me.

There's no doubt retailing is in trouble. Amazon and other online?retailers?have killed off small independent book stores and big-box electrical retailers have become victims of 'showrooming' consumers. The pundits advise fighting back with services that cannot be bought online and urge retailers to move into?an experience economy, one where customers buy an overall experience and attributes of the experience provide benefits, beyond product and service benefits.

When I heard there was a glut of coffee in Southwold I immediately doubted it. So last Friday morning between 9.30 and 10 am, as I had other business in Southwold, I took a perambulation to see what its coffee shops have to offer and how they might serve my needs and how Costa's retail "offer" competes or fits into the local market. In this I tried to adopt the mindset of a tourist on a budget looking for a cup of coffee to go (perhaps for sitting on the seafront with the papers) and imagine taking young children or an elderly parent (like I do these days) which brings a need for constant vigilance on access.?

These are my entirely subjective and personal impressions of what Southwold offers. I find the local coffee market has several sectors:

Pub coffees

Like all of Southwold's pubs The Kings Head is an Adnams house. It has a restaurant room facing onto the High Street which is visible to people arriving at the bus stop. In the morning of my visit the?restaurant?looked dark and uninviting although on closer inspection there was someone inside eating breakfast. A sign on the door says 'Fire Exit Keep Clear' which makes me reconsider: is this the proper front door or not? It doesn't seem be going for the take-away coffee market and whilst all are very presentable, the offer from all the pubs in Southwold is rather more about food and alcohol and as old buildings with narrow doors and varied levels, if I had children in a pushchair with me or my mother in law and her zimmer frame, I'd probably not go in.

The Lord Nelson?menu says it serves coffee but has several rules about children so this is not one for the buggy brigade. The Red Lion had outside a old Kenco Coffee sign vsible from the Market Place. The brand values I associate with Kenco gives the impression that such places serve filter coffee. That actually might suit the 'typical' Southwold resident more, as there is an age gap in coffee drinking. According to a YouGov poll, the over-55s are more likely to drink instant coffee than 18 to 24-year-olds, who prefer cappuccino and latte.

Hotel coffees

At first I left the Blyth Hotel out of my perambulation because it was out of the area I consider the tourist 'heart' of Southwold High Street. Visitors coming by bus will have passed this place a way back. It has tables and chairs outside but it doesn't look like a place to pop in for a java to go. However, from past experience and its present?appearance, it?looks like a nice place to meet someone for a coffee without a struggle to park.

Similarly Sutherland House, The Swan and The Crown have imposing?fa?ades?that suggest fine dining though the outside tables and chairs outside hint at a more casual menu as well but their linen table clothes don't shout casual coffee shop experience or prices.

Sit-down coffees

The Adnams Cafe is in the back of Adnams flagship kitchen store with only its signage visible from the High Street so?curiosity?is required to venture inside. It is a very pleasant space, there are several well designed seating areas and a patio but there weren't any 'to-go' cups stacked by the barista station so I count it as sit down sort of place.?

For presenting itself as a fancy tea-shop, Tilly's gets top marks but linen table clothes and the compact front of house gave me the impression that ordering "to go" from would probably meant you were standing in the way of the serving staff. It has outdoor areas as well.

The Blue Lighthouse wasn't open during my visit, though Munchies next door was. The menu gives the impression it is more an eat-in establishment capturing the lunchtime and dinner crowd and it probably doesn't compete directly with its neighbour. Similarly, though Coasters is very attractive and prominently displays its awards, it again seemed a bit 'up-market' to pop in for a coffee to go. The Beaches and Cream take away is a couple of doors away.

Eat-in/Take-away coffees

Trinity's Cafe & Tea Room is bright and open plan tea room on the High Street with big windows so you can see in what it offers. It wasn't open when I passed it but it was obvious that it wasn't a fussy sort of place, access for the young or old would be easy and you could see it had a barista station and to-go cups. It is probably very popular.

The steamed up windows and a queue of customers already (when other places were closed) and the fancy cakes in the window of Fresh Bite promised satisfaction but it did not advertise serving coffee as such. The steps and the queue put me off from venturing inside just to ask if they served cappucino though I would head straight in for cakes or bread.

The promise of the bright and welcoming frontage of Black Olive was explicit: this is a delicatessen with a range of savoury goods. A obvious barista range, bean grinders, blenders and stacks of to-go cups and?speciality?coffee for sale removed any doubts that a coffee to go would be prepared with the same dedication as they give to the rest of their cusine.?

I missed Squires the first time around my perambulation. A Southwold institution, I always thought it was a sweet shop and I have purchased sweets from there many times but I am informed by a local and its website they also serve teas and coffee to go. There is a small sign above the shop front saying 'Morning Coffee'. Obviously that failed to make an impression on me.

On the Market Place the Old Buckenham coffee shop was signed as such but was closed though I have visited it before. It is down some stairs which makes it off limits to the buggy brigade. You can't tell from the outside if it serves coffee to go until the staff put the chalk boards up on the railings which several photographs show they do. I?am told by a local resident that this place was popular with many people in Reydon who would ride the bus to shop in the Co-op and then meet their friends in this coffee shop. Now that bus cannot go along the High Street, those customers take the bus to Beccles and meet in the Tesco coffee shop.

Visible off the Market Place is Munchies. The frontage and noise of the barista's range plainly promises servings of good coffee and sandwiches to go or eat in. On the other side of the market place is Queen Street and Beaches & Cream there was also closed on my perambulation. I actually failed to notice this establishment was a coffee shop but its website says it serves a wide range of coffee to go as well as ice cream.

I didn't go as far as down some stairs beyond the Lord Nelson to the sea-front to find Susies Beach Hut but I would consider this location is not competing for for customers with establishments on the High Street.

Summary

On this perambulation I found 19 establishments I could identify as serving coffee in the morning in the vicinity of the high street. Only five clearly make a service price offer to a Costa but only Munchies and Trinity's obviously tout for the same kind of customer and they are at either end of the town with Costa's premises equidistant between them. So the saturation argument plainly, ahem, won't hold water.

The variety of Southwold's coffee market is like a microcosm of Britain before the arrival of Starbucks in the 1990's when a coffee shop visit was a hit and miss affair. The many Italian establishments famous in Soho and the 'Milk' bars of the?fifties?and sixties were disappearing under fast-food franchises. The only social space on the high street apart from the pub was the greasy spoon, but health awareness was increasing the demand for alcohol and smoke free?environments?and more?appetising?snacks. The Seattle Coffee Co paved the way reaching 50 stores before Starbucks bought it to hit the ground running. Now we are seeing university bars being shut to be replaced by coffee shops.

The rise of the chains worries many people, who fear for the independent shops on their local high streets. While the chains have 5,000 shops in the UK, there are 6,000 independents but they too are?benefiting?from a rising coffee culture.

?High quality independent coffee shops are fuelling consumer demand and driving the branded coffee shop sector to increase focus on unique interiors and improved brewing methods within a wider, more artisanal coffee offer. This focus on quality in all areas can only continue to drive a thriving industry.? says Jeffrey Young, managing director of?Allegra.

The branded market is now segmented into coffee-focused operators such as Costa, Starbucks, Caf? Nero and AMT and food-focused operators such as Pret A Manger, EAT, Patisserie Valerie and Greggs.?Non-specialist operators include department store caf?s, supermarket caf?s, pub chains, quick service restaurants and petrol forecourts with a strong coffee offer that was pioneered by Coffee Nation before being bought and rebranded as Costa Express.

Costa is a threat to other Southwold?establishments?because it makes a very?explicit?offer to the customer as to what it sells. But like any other business, it too has to compete for the customer with everyone else. The other establishments can counter the threat of competition by making a better offer. That's capitalism.

I hope the coffee shops in Southwold will look at where their offer fits with the customers' needs and what Costa offers. Costa does not offer linen table cloths or the atmosphere of the classic English tea room which Southwold has an abundance of. A trawl through Trip Advisor shows some outlets could do better at customer service, though I've never encountered myself rude or condescending service that has been claimed.

Whilst they might complain that large chains have advantages on costs because of their scale, the independents can be more flexible and agile and get to know their customer. I don't know them personally but I know the owner of Munchies is a local person married to the owner of a local wine shop so I know the pounds I spend in there will then go out the door to local people who work there. It might be an idea for Southwold to consider what Totnes and many other communities have done and establish a Southwold 'pound' to keep the spending local.

Costa's retail 'offer' from their website to potential franchisees. Do Southwold's coffee houses match this?

Shop Design

Our property team will work closely with you on the design and build of your Costa coffee shop, ensuring that you create the welcoming environment that Costa is known for. Our iconic counter design, relaxing seating areas, soft lighting, modern decor and branded external facia will ensure that your store provides the reassuring ambience that Costa customers have come to expect.
Costa Coffee

Our Costa corporate franchises offer all the authentic speciality tastes that have become so popular today. These include cappuccino, caffe latte, americano, mocha, hot chocolate and the hugely successful coffee lovers? favourite ? Flat White. Our new lower calorie beverage, Costa Light, is also proving a big hit with customers who like to enjoy a lighter coffee.

Food Range

Our delicious sweet and savoury food range is the perfect accompaniment to Costa coffee and our products are segmented to maximise each day-part opportunity ? adding value to your coffee menu and generating additional transaction sales.

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Start the day?

Your customers can start the day with one of our mouth-watering breakfast treats; granola topped yoghurts, popular toasties, danish pastries or enjoy our fabulous all day breakfast roll.?

Lunch time favourites?

Think lunch, think Costa! Customers will be spoilt for choice with our lunch range including signature rolls, sandwiches and mouth watering paninis. Health conscious customers can also enjoy a fruity dessert or for those with a sweet tooth, our delicious cake range is second to none!?

Carefully sourced, lovingly created?

We know that the origin and source of meat is an indication of trust and quality to our customers. We also have the desire to source more locally produced produce and support British agricultural producers. Our poultry, pork and beef is sourced from British farms and we only offer free range eggs in all savoury products ? another great reason for your customers to enjoy Costa food.

Source: http://watertowerproject.blogspot.com/2012/11/wake-up-and-smell-coffee.html

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