Running a successful café or restaurant takes more than a decent menu. Of course, serving up a great product is key to business success, but if customers don’t feel positive about their overall experience, it could be the reason they choose not to come back.
“82% of customers would dump a restaurant after a bad experience”
(Sterling Stock Auditors)
First impressions count and it’s important to get the mix right when it comes to designing your front of house. Everything from floor layout to colours and textures, furniture design, equipment, crockery, music and even how the staff present themselves, contribute to an overall ‘vibe’.
When planning a new venture, front of house design should be a priority in a business strategy. An effective design will combine style with functionality and comfort. It’s easy to get the balance wrong, but good research helps. Take advice from other business owners. It’s likely they’ll have valuable wisdom to guide some of your decisions.
From First Grind to a Heritage Blend
Meet the founders of Black Market Coffee – Jess Hol and Angus Nicol. These guys have grown their business from the humblest of beginnings. A passion for great coffee and a love of community, led them to set up their first premises out of a neighbourhood garage in Sydney, back in 2010.
They went from strength to strength, recognising early on that drinking good coffee was so much more than a habitual caffeine fix – delicious flavour and positive vibes, blended with the togetherness of community becomes the perfect brew, and customers couldn’t get enough.
Feeling confident in taking the next step, Black Market Coffee opened its doors in Marrickville, NSW. Fitting the place out in the right style was important, and the concept of ‘functionality’ played a big part in their decision-making.
“We’re always really switched on to customer flow” says Jess. “Making a comfortable space for customers to wait was one of our biggest priorities. We’ve always been predominantly takeaway focused, so when customers come through the door, there’s no question about where to go or what to do.”
Behind the Vibe
Don’t underestimate the value of investing in well-trained and welcoming front of house staff. Research reveals that
“72% of customers feel that one single team member has the power to make or break the dining experience” (Sterling Stock Auditors)
With statistics like this in mind, Jess had her priorities well mapped out when it came to setting up her dream team. “We’ve designed the bar to be able to take orders from both sides, so that our main customer service staff member, known as the ‘vibe curator’, can deliver the best experience to our customers.”
The vibe curator takes orders from the ‘customer side’ of the bar, rather than behind it, placing them closer together during the process of taking orders. It encourages organic conversation, customer and staff boundaries become blurred, where the feel is more like friends rather than one being served by the other. “It shakes things up, customers don’t tend to expect that,” explains Jess.
“Our vibe curators have a really specific job, they choose the music playlist, keeping the vibe high, depending on the general mood feels on the day. Their skillset is to be able to read people, encouraging a positive customer experience.”
Community at the Heart
Careful planning went into furnishing the café as well. “Our tables are intentionally smaller and placed closer together than what you would normally expect in a café, because we love for people to be able to talk to each other – if you have to sit directly next to someone, you sort of feel obliged to say “hello”. Tables are just far away enough for people to squeeze in between, but close enough that you often find yourself speaking to the person sitting next to you,” explains Jess.
Community is key to what Black Market Coffee is all about. Jess always envisioned her venues to be a watering hole for locals to meet and get to know one another.
“We’ve literally seen people who live on the same street but never actually met, then meeting for the first time at our café, which is really cool,” says Jess. “Like two women I introduced a while back. They both happened to buy a coffee at the same time one day, and I pointed out “Hey, do you know you both live on the same street, just a few doors down?” That started a conversation between them, they’re still friends now.”
Textures, Colours and Flavours
Jess and Angus wanted a clean and industrial feel, with high-quality products and equipment. They opted for hardwearing materials, and a mix of bespoke furniture combined with budget-friendly options. Jess has always had a personal passion for interior design, which has definitely helped her with decision-making.
“I’m a big believer that any space should include a few items that really draw the eye,” she says. “Something that people will gravitate towards. Each of our venues has a large custom-made steel-framed table which is black and has a tiled inlay with ‘Black Market Coffee’ incorporated into it. The table frame was commissioned, but the tiling I did myself. It’s a real feature piece.”
Covering two important elements at the same time, Jess created a unique, statement piece of furniture, adding some drama to the overall style of her venue, while also managing to incorporate clear branding into the design.
“It’s become a bit of a signature piece of ours, so many people commented on it, and eventually it became a regular background for our Instagram photos, being so recognisable within our brand. What started as a one-off piece, became something we replicated in our other venues as well.”
Balancing the Budget
Jess realised that stylish and appealing furniture enticed customers to stay longer.
“We purchased some nice high-backed stools that were really comfortable, to create a bit more of a casual yet upmarket atmosphere. We were happy to spend a bit of money on those chairs to elevate the café’s feel, but it also encouraged a higher average order spend from customers, they would stay a bit longer, eat and drink a little bit more on those seats.”
But quality often carries a hefty price tag, so Jess’ secret to staying within budget was ‘balance’. “Once we’d invested in some standout chairs, we then added some cheaper black stools, which went unnoticed, but helped us to increase the number of customers that we could have sitting in the café.”
Deciding where to place the budget isn’t easy. Sometimes the heart leads, and Jess revealed an ongoing challenge she’d been experiencing with their coffee cups. “We wanted people to feel connected to the cup when enjoying their coffee. It sounds funny, but we are serving an artisanal product, so it felt important to choose a cup that represented the quality of our coffee.
“Our original design had no handle, so you could wrap your hands around the cup. We chose stoneware as the material, having a beautiful, organic feel to it. We also wanted the sizes of the cups to measure the same as a takeaway option, so that the customer experience, at any time, was really consistent.
“We designed the cups with a company in Bali, they had a really unique green colour, in line with our branding, and we absolutely fell in love with them. Look and feel is so important to us. But, they were very expensive.”
Jess estimates that the price of her treasured cups carried a price tag around three times the price of an equivalent option from a commercial hospitality supplier. “It wasn’t sustainable,” she admits.
“It’s still a work in progress, but we eventually found an off-the-shelf product, ceramic with our logo on the front. The new cups have got an ‘old-school’ feel, which many of our customers really like. One element which we’ve kept was the sizing, so the takeaway and inhouse ratios are perfect. Ultimately was the most important thing for us, I’m very particular about that.”
It’s a valuable lesson, and one which many new businesses can learn from. Yes, it’s important to follow your passions, but compromise is an inevitable part of a successful business. Decide which elements are unnegotiable, the rest you can revisit later. “No design is ever complete, it’s always evolving,” says Jess.
Key Takeaways
It’s all about the people – look after your customers. Make them happy and they’ll keep returning. Community is at the heart of any hospitality business that’s earnt its place on the pass.
Focus on the overall vibe rather than the details – don’t over-complicate things. It’s an overall feel you’re looking for, so don’t waste time getting hung up on the ‘small stuff’.
Keep your messaging clear – use design choices to communicate to people how they should experience your venue. “Messaging is really important from a customer’s point of view,” says Jess. “The way you design your store communicates what your intentions are.”
Visit the team at Black Market Coffee, located in Marrickville and Newtown NSW, and experience their unique vibes for yourself!
Not in the area? Join their online community here.