An Uprising Fashion Coffee Shop - Maan Coffee

Helen Dou 2013.10.10.

There is a new coffee shop fashion, majorly in Beijing, called Maan Coffee. Unlike big names that are frequently heard in China, such as Starbucks, Costa, or Pacific, they are western and historically associated with coffee, but Maan Coffee is an Asian coffee brand that owned by a Korean restaurant chain – Ai Jiang Shan. Ai Jiang Shan has three upscale restaurants in Beijing.

Maan Coffee was established in January 2011. The rationale behind is to build a place that is not rushing and fast. The founder is an experienced Korean restaurant owner, living in China for a few years, he realized that people need a nice place to talk and hang out. After visiting a U.B.C Coffee in Shanghai, Xin was inspired that coffee shops can be very functional, such as playing games, and started to look into a new style coffee shop.

The key words of Maan Coffee are natural and romantic. The Chinese name is "漫咖啡", which means romantic and is also identical pronunciation as "慢" (slow), and this has effectively expressed the idea of this coffee brand. The in-store environment design is like a spacious utopia, facilitated with cement walls, antique armchairs and desk lamp, as well as bookshelves. In order to demonstrate "nature", Maan Coffee even moved trees indoor. The service has been adjusted as well, after ordering, the customers do not have to stand at the end of the counter to wait for their drinks or food, Maan Coffee baristas will give each customer a lovely Teddy bear to play with while waiting for their order to be provided to table. In Maan Coffee, people can see a table as big as a single size bed, and this is substantially different from Starbucks. During weekend, it is common to see families gathering around big tables enjoying the food, drinks, and environment.

The menu has more than just coffee. Even though Maan Coffee is a coffee shop, the complete name is “Maan Coffee Ÿ Waffle & Toast”. The various exquisite food items give customers a wide selection and attract wider range of customers to find their appetites in Maan Coffee. The owner has very insightful understanding of Chinese customers. He knows that Chinese people like fresh food, thus he made the food preparation counter visible to most of the customers to show them the food here are not only delicious, but also very fresh.

Maan Coffee has opened 36 stores country-wide, and over 24 upcoming stores are under construction. China is a new coffee consumption market, but it’s already crowded. When big brands like Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Pacific Coffee are enjoying the profits, new entrants are finding different ways to share the cake. China’s close neighbor, South Korea, has a booming development of coffee business, and this has nurtured many successful Korean coffee brands at the same time. Even though Starbucks is the number one coffee shop in China, big Korean coffee brands like Caffe Bean, Angel-in-us, Hollys Coffee are already well known in China (thanks to the popularity of Korean drama). In China, coffee industry grows drastically, at the mean time, the competition is growing more fiercely than ever. Western coffee brands are facing strong Asian competitors now.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of StartJG Hong Kong.

The Retail Innovation of Starbucks

Helen Dou 2013.9.19.

September 17th, 2013 - Startbucks China announced its new launch of two concept flagship stores in Beijing - 咖啡礼赞 and 24-hour flagship creative store.

咖啡礼赞, which means praise of coffee or coffee tribute, concept store has demonstrate Starbucks coffee's heritage and leadership in the coffee market. This concept store locates in Beijing Kerry Hotel. It has two floors with coffee bar on each floor. The coffee bar on the second floor featured with a special function - Starbucks Workshop, that provides unique handcraft coffee, which allows the customers to choose coffee beans from various originations to roast and taste the flavors. All barista there have gone through more strict trainings and obtained the "Black Apron" certificate. Normally, Starbucks baristas wear green apron; for those who wear black apron, it suggests that the baristas are in expert level, and they should have better and more professional knowledge on coffee and coffee making skills.

On retail design aspect, Starbucks has incorporated with local artists. Local artists have brought in many traditional Chinese elements into the store design concept and helped Starbucks to tell its story in a local language. On the coffee bar surface creative, a traditional Chinese drawing pattern has been used to communicate the Starbucks coffee journey from planting to manufacturing. A full set of Chinese traditional elements have been adapted throughout the whole store. It is obvious that Starbucks has put in a significant effort on localization.

Another creative flagship store is developed around the concept "兼收并蓄、不拘一格", which means incorporate things of diverse nature and follow no set form. This store is located in Beijing Sanlitun, one of the most dynamic and energetic business areas of urban lifestyle. The first floor is installed clear and broad coffee bar and expresses a young feeling of the take away coffee; the second floor is decorated with long shape coffee bar along the window and wooden furniture, which has effectively contrasted the interior environment with the busy and crowded outside. However, people sitting inside can still feel the buzz of the exciting urban life. The relaxing environment provides people the perfect place for taking a break or friends reunion without excluding the business and fun urban environment. The second floor is also called Clue 1972 to commemorate the birth year of Starbucks. Another special event is that every weekend night, live music performance is held here to connect coffee and music, and this is also a great opportunity for local talent musicians to showcase their talent and live their music dreams.

Resource: starbucks.com.cn



Written by Helen Dou

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of StartJG Hong Kong.