Coffee Republic has announced the opening a new Deli in West Kensington by the franchisee Mohammed Rafiq. The shop is situated on the North End road, close to West Kensington station.
Archive for April, 2008
Brazilian exports of ground and milled coffee to Saudi Arabia grew 316% in volume and 291.8% in revenues in the first quarter this year, compared with the same period in 2007. The Arab country was the 12th largest buyer of coffee sold under Brazilian brands in foreign countries.
Nathan Herszkowicz, director at the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association (Abic) claims that there is a good market for the ground and milled product in the Arab world, given the fact that the Arab countries, along with Ethiopia, are the cradle of coffee. “It was widely consumed by the Muslims, it used to be very traditional in the East, before it even went to Europe and became known in the West,” says the director at the Abic. The organisation expects industrialised coffee exports to the Arab market to grow approximately 30% this year, the same increase that should occur in overall foreign sales.
Coffee Republic has announced an agreement with Al Hadaf (Adwest) International trading company for the Coffee Republic franchise rights in Saudi Arabia. The agreement provides Al Hadaf with the right to develop Coffee Republic outlets and to recruit franchisees to operate Coffee Republic outlets in Saudi Arabia, though it is envisaged that all the bars will be owned directly. Al Hadaf has agreed for at least twenty stores to be opened in the next five years. Al Hadaf is a pioneering advertising agency based in Saudi and its owner, Tareg Kheder, has interests in a number of other businesses in Saudi, covering a wide range of industries.
Commenting, Steven Bartlett, CEO, said: “We are pleased to be partnering Al Hadaf to develop Coffee Republic in Saudi Arabia. They have the necessary skills and expertise to make a success of the Coffee Republic brand there. This brings to ten the total number of countries under international franchise agreements. Discussions are in hand with counterparties seeking rights in other countries which may lead to further agreements”.
A second Coffee Republic deli opens in Northern Ireland
Two of the newest franchisees of Coffee Republic, Dermot Kelly & Trevor Mealiff have opened Northern Ireland’s second Coffee Republic in Strabane, County Tyrone. Coffee Republic Strabane sits amongst numerous high street brands in the newly developed Pavillion retail park.
Unit 7, The Pavillion Retail Park, Railway Street, Strabane, Co Tyrone, BT82 8EQ.
Rolf Julin has opened the new Coffee Republic in Queensway, west London on Wednesday (16th April 2008).
Coffee Republic, 126 Queensway, London, W2 6LU.
14
Apr
08
Free WI-FI at Coffee Republic
Latte lovers who like to surf and work from the comfort of a coffee shop will be able to get free wi-fi internet access at Coffee Republic cafes from May.
Coffee Republic will become the first UK coffee chain to provide free wi-fi to customers when it launches the service across the majority of its UK chain from 1 May 2008.
The company says the new service is aimed at increasing the footfall in Coffee Republic shops from mobile workers, business people and students.
A recent survey of 1,000 business people found a quarter now take advantage of wi-fi hotspot to work remotely from a coffee shop at least one day per week.
Customers making a purchase at Coffee Republic will be offered a free wi-fi voucher giving them a login code to access the store’s hotspot from any wi-fi-enabled laptop, mobile phone or PDA.
The free wi-fi service uses technology from hotspot provider Commsport, which was trialled in several Coffee Republic cafes over the last few months.
Ian McKelvie, IT manager for Coffee Republic, said two of the trials in Reading and Weybridge led to a noticeable increase in footfall.
He said in a statement: “In-bar technology is the way forward. Free wi-fi access, will help drive footfall to our bars and ultimately push sales, so our focus remains firmly in continuing to deliver these solutions to the business.”
One of the ways the free wi-fi service will be subsidised is through advertising – the landing page when people logon will offer space to advertisers.
The offer also represents significant savings for regular Wi-Fi users. Currently, the UK boasts several ‘hotspots’ but the majority are pay-as-you-go or contract services which means customers could be paying up to £4.50 an hour* to use the technology. By using the new service at Coffee Republic, which is linked to a purchase, customers who use Wi-Fi for an hour a week could be saving themselves up to £234 a year.
- TAKE A BREAK: Harvey Nichols employees Ashleigh Thwaits and Katy Malloy enjoy a coffee in the garden
Coffee Republic has announced the new opening of Coffee Republic St. Andrew Square in Edinburgh. The new Deli opened by Danny Anderson on Friday 4th April was part of the grand opening of St. Andrew Square Gardens, which had previously been closed to the public for the last 238 years. The new Coffee Republic sits amidst the garden surroundings in a newly built pavilion, and what with summer being just around the corner, it’s the perfect place to enjoy our fresh coffee and relax in the peacefulness of the gardens.
Located at: 43 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2AD.
07
Apr
08
First Northern Ireland outlet
Coffee Republic Deli has opened its first Northern Ireland outlet based in Abbeycentre, Newtownabbey and plans to open a second in Strabane this month.
Chief Executive of Coffee Republic Steven Bartlett said: “Northern Ireland represents a crucial market for Coffee Republic as it possesses a vibrant, burgeoning cafÉ culture. The company is looking forward to introducing the Coffee Republic brand and becoming part of the Northern Ireland community. I am sure that this is a precursor to an exciting period of global expansion.”
The duo responsible for bringing the brand to Northern Ireland is Coffee Republic’s Master Franchisees for Ireland, Siobhan and Robert Mooney. They intend to sub-franchise five additional Coffee Republic Deli outlets this year.
Siobhan said: “We are delighted to launch a flagship Coffee Republic Deli and ‘Centre for Training Excellence’ in The Abbeycentre, one of Northern Ireland’s longest established shopping centres.
“The Abbeycentre outlet has provided the opportunity to build a local supply chain for products and support services and will play a pivotal role in the future training and development of potential franchisees from all over Ireland. We are looking forward to developing the brand throughout Ireland and attracting new franchisees. The interest expressed to date from potential franchisees has been very encouraging.”
