2008 - Greater Houston Retailers Cooperative Association, Inc.

Opportunities in the
Coffee Industry
By: Kaiser Kasimali,
GHRA Honorary Secretary
It’s breakfast time and I am sipping on
my morning coffee while writing this
article. Coffee is the first thing I drink
when I wake up in the morning, along
with the other 108 million Americans
nationwide (nacsonline). The notion of
the morning cup of coffee has never
really been about “just something that
you drink,” but rather an indication of a
habit for most Americans. For some,
coffee acts as the morning punch to kickstart
your day, while for others it carries
the idea that their cup will aid them in
enhancing work performance for the day.
Along with this, the majority of morning
commuters have the habit of consuming
a breakfast food, like doughnuts for
example, along with their morning cup
to hold their appetites through to
lunchtime. Bottom line for the coffee
consumer is that: We need a betterroasted,
aromatic coffee in the
morning.
According to the National Association of
Convenience Stores, roughly 18.3% of
the total cups of coffee purchased for
consumption in the year 2005 were
bought at a convenience store. In 2006
alone, convenience stores sold more than
$5.7 billion in coffee nationwide, which
comes to an average sale of $40,000 per
store (nacsonline). So my question to all
our GHRA member stores is: Are you
selling that much coffee in your
individual stores
The US economy is in a slump and we
have all started to feel the pinch. Even
the Big Coffee Chains are shutting down
stores to make sure that only the stores
that are profitable exist. On one side,
convenience stores have less competition
as far as coffee is concerned, but on the
other side the consumers are spending
less. Consumers are looking for
bargains even when it comes to pricing
good quality coffee. Big fast food chain
stores are now serving coffee at a
competitive price.
Lets convert this economy slump factor
to our advantage and start thinking about
what an individual convenience store can
do to increase their coffee sales. For
starters, we all need to change the coffee
station image at our convenience stores
in order to gain sales from these big
coffee chain stores that are closing
down. It is once again time to think
outside the box to set ourselves apart
from our competitors. These fast-food
chain stores may have burgers to serve in
their menu, but they do not offer
gasoline, a variety of soda pops and the
convenience of making a one-stop-shop
for the basic necessities of life. We are
ahead of the game but let us not give our
competitors a chance to enjoy a bigger
slice of the pie.
We at GHRA have yearly contracts with
a few of the elite coffee vendors. In
working with one of our vendors of your
choice, start the change if you believe
that you can increase coffee sales in your
store. These
vendors will
not only assist
you by
providing good
quality coffee,
but will also
consult with
you in making
sure that you all
can enjoy
loyalty from
our coffee
drinkers. We
need repeat
business and
thus repeat
customers.
And now, as I
finish the last few sips of my morning
coffee, I leave you with this final
thought. We should all believe in selling
a lot more coffee this spring and make
sure to retain the increased customer
base and maintain it for the New Year
and beyond.
nacsonline:
http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/FactShee
ts/Pages/Coffee.aspx
Secure the Future of
Your Family with an
Estate Plan
By: Faisal Kajani, Attorney-At-Law
As a small business owner, your life is
typically full of chaos. Every day is
different and filled with new challenges.
Planning for what will happen to your
family and your business after your
death is probably the last thing on your
mind. However, this is one of the most
important things you can do for your
family.
If you are a small business owner, and
you die, what happens Your failure to
have a proper estate plan in place could
end up destroying much of the hard work
you spent during your lifetime building
your business and your wealth, while
throwing the lives of your loved ones
into turmoil. Without an estate plan, all
sorts of problems can arise upon your
death or incapacitation, including the
following:
• Your business might have to be
shut down if no one knows how
to run it, what to do, who your
important contacts are, what
accounts you have and so forth.
• You will not be able to control
who will inherit your assets.
• You will not be able to control
who should act as a guardian
for your minor children.
• You will not be able to control
who will be making medical
and financial decisions for you
if you are incapacitated.
As a business owner, it is likely that a
significant portion of your wealth
(including your family’s source of
The content of article only express views of individual authors and not necessarily the views and opinions of GHRA and its representatives.
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