Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Cafe in expansion
Coffee shop opens its second store in Dundee due to level of demand
A POPULAR city centre coffee shop is going from strength-to-strength after opening its second store due to customer demand.
Empire State Coffee has opened its second outlet i n Broughty Ferry’s Brook Street.
The store’s owner Claire Ritchie said she got the idea to expand after customers at its Nethergate shop asked whether there were any expansion plans on the horizon.
The 47-year-old, from Glenrothes, said she was overjoyed with the premises’ first week in business.
She added: “It’s done really well so far. It’s only been open just over a week, but there have been lots of people already saying nice things to the staff.
“The idea to open only started when customers were coming into the city store asking if we would open in another area.”
The Ferry branch of the business has so far employed three people, adding to the nine other members of staff in the city centre.
Claire added: “Everything with the premises was perfect in terms of the overhead costs and rent.
“A large number of customers seemed to have travelled in from Broughty Ferry to see us too so it made sense.”
In further plans for expansion, Claire has also advertised the Nethergate store to let.
She said she has plans to open a bigger coffee shop in Dundee, adding: “That’s the ultimate aim.
“The store is getting busier and busier so we are just testing the market, having it advertised to let.
“We need to see what is out there and what can be done moving forward.”
The owner says the move into the coffee shop business came completely out of chance with no direct experience in the industry beforehand.
With the help of her husband, Claire now has five years under her belt of being in charge.
She added: “My husband is in the building industry and it all came about with the credit crunch.
“No one was building homes so my husband was looking into the commercial realm.
“My kids had also grown up so I was looking for a new venture.
“It has been hard as there seems little in the way of help, even from just opening a bank account, but business is going really well.”