Wow! I'm so excited (and a bit jealous) for you! I can really see that God is with you in this. Just keep listening to HIM and all things will work out.
My "dream" of a bakery is still far off but my plans were to offer lots of differnt types of desserts that people could order or indiv. eat-in traffic. I want to offer special coffees & drinks for the eat-in traffic. So I like that above suggestion. I know that's what college kids love.
Also don't forget to try some lo-cal/lo-carb types of dessert for the college girls who love dessert but are always trying to avoid that freshman 15!
Remember those college kids grow up and get married and great jobs so keep them as loyal customers for life!
Congrats and what a great opportunity for you!!
Good Luck and I'll pray that God will be with you!

Wow that is a great building and I wish you much success

Congratulations!!!, the building is so beautiful, your shop is going to look great in that building. I am so happy for you. I was thinking that college students don't have always the money to eat at a restaurant so don't worry about them, instead offer them something savory and easy to eat on the go because they are always in a rush (sweet and savory pies are great, you know, like empanadas) or sandwiches and cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc. And don't forget THE CAKE!!!!
Good luck in this new adventure and God Bless you and your bussiness!!

Congratulation!!! It is a perfect old building!! I would get ahold of some old counters from another historical building from an auction...you know the kind that have the fancy old woodwork around them like an old candy store..That would be really nice!!

congratulations!!!! that storefront couldn't be any sweeter!

how big is it?

time to start praying and believing God for some great deals on equipment now.....and theres some out there for ya!

i don't do anything for walk ins....but they bug the heck outta me for cupcakes.

Wow...thanks everyone for the replies! I just checked and saw so many more of you who responded. I am getting really excited but am so nervous too so hearing your stories is encouraging.

I am definitely planning on serving drinks like coffee, teas, hot chocolate. I am just not sure where to go or how to even go about this. I have no idea how to make these drinks like cappuccino & lattes - I don't drink coffee! Are there companies that you can lease machines from that show you how to do this? Do I purchase this? Really clueless here everyone!

It's not large - but I think it's the perfect size to begin with - maybe I'll be able to move on to something bigger when the lease is up. It's 600 square feet - though, I am terrible with these kinds of numbers - Is that small? What do some of you have, if you don't mind sharing? I like your idea Kiddiecakes - I have started looking on Craigslist and my husband said there is a newspaper guide that comes out on Wednesdays with local Restaurant auctions so hopefully we can pick up a lot of stuff there.

Wow, I really appreciate all the feedback everyone - I love to hear about other people's experiences...Thanks!

Tammi

i think 600 square ft will be ok!

i've got 1000,...but i got a lot of wasted space.

before they finally opened up a starbucks here, i was gonna do coffees.....then low and behold, they opened one....i'm still toying with the idea.

there are message boards like this one, for coffee shop owners, i can't remember what they are called at the time. there are deals on equipment,,,,some of the roasters will let you use their machines if you buy their coffee.

i was looking into a company called java daves...they have videos to train you.....they have some java dave shoppes here, and their coffee is good.

That is the most incredibly beautiful building! I love architecture so much and your building is perfect! Congrats! I wish you all the best.

You could even just serve regular brewed coffee...Lease or rent the 3-4 cariff station like Bunn....I can just imagine how expensive those fancy latte/cappucino/expresso machines are to rent or buy and seriously though.....who needs those fancy coffees...I know they taste great but in a small hostorical shop like that..I would like just a good ol cup of coffee to go with my piece of cake or cookie!!!

The small bakery I worked for very briefly (don't ask! LOL!) leased very expensive coffee/espresso machines, and they had trainers come and show us all (even me - despite the fact that I worked in the back) how to use everything. They gave us 2 days of training - videos and everything. Total waste of my time - but at least they paid me to sit through it.

Very cool awesome building. For the menu. Don't try to please everyone. What I mean you don't have to have twenty flavors of danish to make a sale. Instead of like ice cream, or gelatos. You can offer frozen mousses, or would the be frozen mice. LOLOL Sorry couldn't help myself. Check this link out for silicone molds http://www.demarleusa.com/wtb.asp. You can have a frozen Bavarain cream w/ a mousse center. These are big profit margin. They will fly out the door.

Individual Cheesecake bites. Leave plain, or dip in choc.

Congrats, and Good Luck,

Mike

I have been thinking of this very thing, but my dh doesn't think it would work in my town/area ... but these are my thoughts:

Scones (maybe different flavors for different days)
Chocolate chip muffins
Blueberry Muffins
Cupcakes
minni cakes
Cake Truffles (cake balls)
Cookies (chocolate chip, italian wedding, sugar etc)
Bread/rolls
biscotti
banna bread
zucinni bread
zucinni pineapple bread
Peacan rolls
sticky bunns (cinniman rolls)
Nut rolls
Pies (minni and reg as season allows)
Whoopi pies or Gobbs (chocolate sandwhich cookies with vanilla icing in the middle - these go like hot cakes around here)
(I also have thought of some specialties that my family has come up with over the years)

Drinks
Coffee
Tea
Smoothies
Water
Juice

Sandwhiches made from the fresh bread/rolls/croisants - chicken salad, turkey, ham and cheese etc.
Soups
These would be for Lunch only.

Then of course the preperation of wedding and special occation cakes.

CONGRATULATIONS! What an impressive building!

You are getting a ton of great ideas but make sure you sit down and do a BUSINESS PLAN & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. Even if you don't need to borrow much any bank will require these. And know its much, much harder to get a small loan than it is a larger one. Many banks have loan minimums of at least $25k! I just submitted my business plan for my SBA Loan, so hopefully I can help here. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about your plan or financials. I feel as if I get so much from people here so I don't mind giving back.

For example, if you plan to sell coffee or tea, what kind of cups, where will you purchase, will they have your logo, how much for shipping, where will you store them? How much will it cost you for stirrers, packaged sugar, creamers, etc. Add all that up and let that determine your per unit cost for a cup of coffee and your profit margin, how much you can realistically keep on hand, etc.

Choose your products wisely to maximize your profit, yet minimize your costs. Find out what you can reuse and try to get as many uses out of a particular product as you can.

Congrats again, and best of luck to you on this exciting opportunity!

Thanks Littlecake - I actually checked in to this thanks to you and I have some coffee vendors that I think I'll be able to work with. And thanks for the suggestions Mike - I am really torn on this. I am trying to figure out a way to offer the most with the least, if that makes sense...lol

Wow Nikki - thanks for the suggestions - they're great. I love your ideas. This is what I'm nervous about, and I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but while I can bake some very tasty sweet breads - I have never baked a loaf of bread! Stupid question time - is it hard? Do you have to buy a bread oven or can you use a regular oven? I think this would be a really good thing for me because there are a lot of restaurants in the downtown area that have already expressed interest in purchasing special breads & rolls for their dinner services so I really have to consider this.

btrsktch you definitely gave me a lot to think about. I have only realized this myself thanks to you. There is so much to think of but thanks for pointing this out. I will add this to my to do list. I am meeting about the loan today so I'm sure if I don't have what they are asking for I might have to take you up on that PM idea! Thanks everyone for the help and suggestions...They are really great!

Tammi

The advice Mike1394 gave is the best yet...don't try to please everyone...because EVERYONE will have a suggestion of what they want.....you just can't do it all. my partner had a pie shoppe a while back, they wanted 1001 different things....she tried to do everything everyone wanted....it got to be too much, and even though business was going well, she burnt out and ended up closing the shop.

for me, "keep it simple" has worked.....will you have employees, or are you gonna do a 1 man show?

I just love the storefront...looks like those painted ladies in san fransisco....cept minus the paint lol.

Congratulations! I'm sure your shop will be great, the building itself is beautiful. Keep us posted.

WOW! That building is very charming. Best of luck to you. I'm not in the business...only work from home right now, but a cake bakery on the other side of town does very well and she serves lunches that includes subs and sandwichs with chips and a soda or tea. She also serves a couple of different soups, chowders, and stews...a big hit during the winter months. I've also noticed with all of her lunches, she puts a sampling of her cakes in a small portion cup with a tiny plastic spoon (like the ones at ice cream shops to try different flavors). She makes a different cake for this everyday and the customer gets that little "extra", without having to buy a desert.

Just something to think about and I share this because I know that it works for her.

Good luck and keep us updated!


Wanda

I would definately do the cupcakes and decorated cookies. Check out a site called Sprinkles Cupcakes in California. They are pretty much all cupcakes, but they only do certain ones on certain days...that way I would think it cuts down on waste maybe.

Just another idea, but check out that site!



Wanda

That store front is exactly how I always pictured my store front to be. Tea Rooms are really popular here, they offer desserts/tea/coffee/cold drink/sandwiches/soups/salads and are usually open 10-4. You could offer something like this then do cakes on the down time (if you find any!lol). I'm so jealous!

If you're thinking about doing breads, just buy frozen par-baked breads. SO easy, and so much less hassle. And saying they are "fresh baked in our kitchen" will be true!