What do you want from a teashop?

[littleteapotandcake]

I'm at the very early stages of looking at taking over a teashop in a small seaside town. I would interested in finding out what you like or don't like when you visit or any advice from anyone who has done/is running a teashop now. TIA

You're right. I work 70 hours a week and no I'm not exaggerating. It's the only way I can profit at the moment. Was doing amazingly but you know, Covid closure and subsequent loans and rent arrears to pay back means I work all these hours to take a pittance. Mine is a kids one which to be fair is full all the time so it's def a success story if I didn't have all these debts to pay back from being closed for so long. But I think 6 more months of hard work and I'll be back in the black. But yeah, I agree don't do it unless you have money to lose for at least 2 years

Consistent opening hours. There’s a local coffee shop that I like but half the time when I walk past they’re not open so I go elsewhere.

Veggie / vegan options that don’t include rocket.

A rule that phones etc are either sound off or you use headphones.

@fuckssaaaaake I was friendly with the lady who most recently ran the village coffee shop. She was starting work at 4am every morning to bake cakes for the shop. She was permanently exhausted! I love a good coffee shop but I wouldn’t ever run one myself. I hope you get yours back into the black soon.

Another thing that works for locals and draws tourists back is the reward cards/ apps.

You can have buy 5 drinks and get free slice of cake type offers.

This works well with people in couples or alone or meeting friends and paying for themselves returning with loyalty cards.

And families who come in and buy 3 drink or more get a free cake and then buy more cake because you can't just have 1 person eating cake alone!

Thanks to you all for your suggestions and opinions. I think the biggest thing I've gathered is you can't please everyone!

Decent tea. Sick of places with nice coffee and shitty teabags.

Yes to reward cards!!!!

One of my local independents has a scheme where if you complete seven loyalty cards, you get the free drink each time as usual but then also get one free drink per day for a week.

Personally my heart sinks when the only vegan option is houmous, falafel or roasted veg (or any combination of them). I appreciate that we are few in number but it is so often the default in so many places.

I was unbelievably shocked and delighted when we visited a cafe that we hadn't been to for years and they had a coronation chickpea sandwich on the menu. My only criticism was that it was too bloody enormous to fit in my mouth.

On that point, I really hate the trend for everything to be supersized and I don't really want a sandwich that is 4 inches deep. The same with cakes, pastries etc- my favourite cafe has ones that are diddy, one or two mouthfuls and to me that is perfect. I really dislike it when the cakes are a foot tall and slathered in icing and would rather just have a drink if that's all that's on offer.

Unlike many here I really don't like the aesthetic of chintz and mismatched china but that's just me by the sound of this thread.

And families who come in and buy 3 drink or more get a free cake and then buy more cake because you can't just have 1 person eating cake alone!

This is some evil teashop genius !

You will never please everyone, so figure out your target demographic/unique selling point. Personally I don’t care about “pretty“ china, basic IKEA stuff is fine, but I’d like decent hot chocolate (not super sweet powdery) and some savoury options like nice sausage rolls, cheese scones etc, but if it’s somewhere I will be going regularly rather than as a one off on holiday, I want some cheap and cheerful things like toasted tea cakes that don’t cost £6! There’s a great café I know that does early morning bacon sandwiches for £2 for the dog walkers etc (add a fried egg for 50p etc). By lunchtime it’s a bit more up market with £7 paninis but they know their morning clientele will be back several times a week, whereas the lunchtime crowd are once or twice a month.

I am another who would love somewhere to go after work in that 4pm to 7pm slot – nowhere is open, but that’s the time when I could have a quick catch up with a friend, or a non-work meeting.

who is your competition at various points in the day? Is there a market for an early morning place? An evening boardgame café? Are there lots of tourists in your area who want a nice lunch or are you mostly going to have mums and babies?

Tea pots and extra water. Herbal teas , coffee.
A couple of cutting cake options , Victoria sponge , carrot cake , coffee & walnut , tray bakes , scones including cheese ones.
Choice of sandwiches, with vegetarian options. Soup ( homemade ) for more chillier seasons , toasties.
Half portions for little ones.
Maybe a quiche with a little side salad.
Thats me happy.

Or under a sandwich espicially a toastie . The melted cheese stuck on the paper napkin is horrible

@AvocadotoastORahouse
And there are plenty of places that sell only coffee.

But iMO if you are calling it a tea shop then that's your primary beverage- otherwise it's a cafe or a coffee house

Good vegan options and not getting ripped off. Good luck!

Everywhere is dog friendly nowadays so a cafe where they're not allowed would be very clever. People would come specifically for that reason.

I get bemused and annoyed when tea shops close at or shortly after teatime.

There should be teas served at 4 pm and also high tea at 5 pm, with a selection of sandwiches as well as cakes and scones.

Also elevenses at 11 am, of course.

Why do so many tea shops close at 4 or 5, i.e. at traditional tea time?!

Definitely!

Gluten free options.
Go for gf toasties or paninis, you can freeze the bread items so it isn't wasted and it's better that way anyway. If you only have one sandwich press, wrap the gf in baking paper before popping in to reduce contamination.
Proper chips, serve them with a ham salads, sausages (gf), eggs, top with chilli etc. Again can be a GF option if fryer is used for chips or gf items.

Be well aware of allergies and intolerances, I know further up thread a teashop owner said it's hard to do but it's not impossible.
If you make yourself known for it, then they will come.
There's a stall in skegness that offers gf donuts and churros, the amount of posts I've seen on social media this summer of families traveling to skegness for a donut is crazy. I know cause I'm one of them (they were worth the 2hr drive)

Our local two tea rooms are always busy, and have all the things previous posters have mentioned, mismatched furniture and China, great cakes, variety of tea and coffee and the food is plentiful and really good. One does healthy salads and wraps the other is more smashed avo and crispy bacon, both do equally well. One also does a lovely thing on Mondays to encourage older people in who might be on their own all day, to come in and have tea and a natter. Good luck.
https://www.theearlgreytearooms.co.uk/about
https://www.julietsandmore.com/

Everything fresh. I have given up on afternoon teas now as fed up of bread and scones that are not fresh. Most cakes are good for a couple of days but bread and scones need to be baked that day!

No slouchy armchairs or sofas, just comfortable, practical seating that can be wiped down.
Any functional crockery is fine.
Wipe down the tables frequently.
Good service.
No paper napkins under food.

I agree with pp that if you make it dog free it would be a unique selling point and may make it attractive to many.

Vegan and gluten-free options - clearly labelled.

A cafe open evenings (a few in the city I live in) would be good for people who don't drink. Mine is really busy on Saturday nights.