Cuppy's Coffee Cafe Turns into California Hot Spot
July 20, 2007
Murrieta Cuppy's Coffee franchisee Mike Luevano shares how live entertainment helped significantly increase his business.
Offering live music at your Cuppy's Coffee & More Cafe is a great way to get involved with the community and gain loyal customers. Hosting bands at your cafe is also another way to generate revenue at your store. Mike Luevano, a Cuppy's Coffee & More franchisee in Murrieta, California, offers some great insight on how to get started as well as the success it has brought his store.
Q: How successful is the live entertainment at your store?
A: Very. Our entertainment nights are doing well, but that's because they are done the right way. This is not an initiative to put partial effort into—it requires full dedication.
Q: Has the live entertainment brought more traffic to your store?
A: Live music helps us distinguish our brand and rise above the coffee houses in this area by bringing something unique to our cafe.
Q: How often do you offer live music at your Cafe?
A: We offer live music Tuesday through Saturday, with an Open Mic night on Wednesday.
Q: How do you generate enough revenue to support the bands and make a profit?
A: We charge a $5 cover for bands playing Tuesday and Thursday, and a $6 cover for bands playing Friday and Saturday. We pay each band a dollar for every customer they draw to the store, that way they are paid based on their promotions and pull. Open Mic Night is free.
Q: How many customers does the live entertainment attract each night?
A: Anywhere from 50 to 120 people on a good night.
Q: How do you choose your live entertainment?
A: I rely on www.myspace.com* as a promotion engine. I established a web page on myspace.com for Cuppy's Coffee Music. I use myspace.com to search for bands in my area and then contact them on their myspace page.
*Please note: www.myspace.com is an online community that allows you to network professionally and/or personally with people on a regional, national and/or global level based on common interests, industries or relations.
Q: What are you doing to market these bands?
A: Each band has fans that come into watch them. I then obtain contact information from the fans to market them for the next show. I encourage those that enjoyed the music to sign their name and myspace username on a list so I can send them updates regarding the upcoming bands.
Q: What do other cafe owners need to consider before offering live entertainment in their stores?
A: Proper staging, lighting and sound are crucial. Also, you need to offer more than a small corner stage if you want to be a real venue and attract bands that will draw around 100 people or more a night.
For more information on the live music at Mike Luevano's Murrieta Cuppy's Coffee Cafe or an example of his live music schedule visit http://myspace.com/cuppyscoffeemusic.