Can a Sandwich Shop Make Decent Money ?
Discussion
agree with above - people will always like fresh meat
are there any farmers market anywhere near where you are looking to set up? There will always be food lovers around to try your product. Sure a stall would not be expensive.
As above, the farmers market in Hampshire have a stall selling freshly carved meat in a baguette and they are lovely.
Subway is ok but their meat is not very nice and too generic- people want something a bit different and special
are there any farmers market anywhere near where you are looking to set up? There will always be food lovers around to try your product. Sure a stall would not be expensive.
As above, the farmers market in Hampshire have a stall selling freshly carved meat in a baguette and they are lovely.
Subway is ok but their meat is not very nice and too generic- people want something a bit different and special
testosterone2 said:
I opened a sandwich shop in basingstoke. I went into it with a lot experience in catering and concluded after three years that it was more trouble than it was worth.
The problems are :-
Low ticket value
Limited window for sales
Very early starts
High food waste
Too labour intensive
Unpredictable sales ie no sales pattern
Pret a manger only works because of the locations and brand awareness. They have their fair share of headaches and not all of them make money. The only way i think you can make money is by doing a subway type operation and staying open all day. The problem is that you will need a good location which costs money and staffing costs.
I work in Basingstoke - do you mind if I ask where your shop was?The problems are :-
Low ticket value
Limited window for sales
Very early starts
High food waste
Too labour intensive
Unpredictable sales ie no sales pattern
Pret a manger only works because of the locations and brand awareness. They have their fair share of headaches and not all of them make money. The only way i think you can make money is by doing a subway type operation and staying open all day. The problem is that you will need a good location which costs money and staffing costs.
Don't think there are independent food shops in Basingstoke now, 3 Greggs, subway, numerous coffee shops and Mr Munch...
DSLiverpool said:
its a nice sunday however now we have the kids we do it less and less.
Yup! My Sunday morning consists largely of repeating "No, you can't watch Barbie, you can watch one more Ben & Holly & then we've got to go...!" as I head inexorably towards a nervous breakdown... 
DSLiverpool said:
Bugger! 
sounds like the owner's given it a 13-year run, so it can't have been too bad...SydneyBridge said:
I work in Basingstoke - do you mind if I ask where your shop was?
Don't think there are independent food shops in Basingstoke now, 3 Greggs, subway, numerous coffee shops and Mr Munch...
It was and still is as far as i am aware called Ready2go. It is is Festival place near to M & S. I started it from scratch and spent about 80k on fitting it out. It was not an ideal location but there were limited options regarding site availability. The rent, rates and service charge was about 40k p.a. I got the sales up to 10k per week. I sold a lot of sandwiches but did not make much profit. Food cost and labour was the problem. I premade a lot of stock so we could deliver to offices etc. Trading hours were from 7-3. Biggest lesson i learnt from this venture was to Never, ever open a shop in a shopping centre. The service charges would make your eyes water !Don't think there are independent food shops in Basingstoke now, 3 Greggs, subway, numerous coffee shops and Mr Munch...
DS - as you mentioned Golders Green, a 'Bagel Bar' has just opened up over in Hendon. They've got the basic model right but need to add some oomph and when I went a while back hadn't got the speed where it should be.
Check out Holy Bagel holybagel.com for some inspiration - good quality, excellent catering and up to 10+ sites now (in Israel).
Check out Holy Bagel holybagel.com for some inspiration - good quality, excellent catering and up to 10+ sites now (in Israel).
Take yourself on a trip to Bristol and try Maximillions. It's only 10 minutes from the station, so you can escape quickly.
The basic premise is this:
Giant bap
Butter & mayo
Substantial amount of roast - pork, beef, chicken, turkey, gammon
7 salad items
This is where it gets good. "Salad" includes cheese, salami, potato wedges, noodles, spring rolls, onion bhajis, falafel, scotch eggs, sausages, you name it, they'll cram it in.
Four quid.
Queues out the door from 11:30 until 2:00
Replicate this and you'll be onto a winner.
The basic premise is this:
Giant bap
Butter & mayo
Substantial amount of roast - pork, beef, chicken, turkey, gammon
7 salad items
This is where it gets good. "Salad" includes cheese, salami, potato wedges, noodles, spring rolls, onion bhajis, falafel, scotch eggs, sausages, you name it, they'll cram it in.
Four quid.
Queues out the door from 11:30 until 2:00
Replicate this and you'll be onto a winner.
Dogbash said:
Just thought I'd add to this topic.
Local to where I live there is a butchers down a high street. They started doing carvery baguettes around 10 years ago to boost their business. You can have a baguette in small or large and the fillings you can choose from are roast beef, pork, turkey, chicken, sausages, bacon and you can have stuffing, apple sauce, cranberry, mayonnaise. Basically any combo you like.
They charge £2.50 for a small one and £3.00 for a large. People literally cue out of the door. This despite the fact there is a subway in the shop next door. Its fairly close to a college and all the students walk down there during their lunch hours. I have no idea how many they sell on a busy day but it must be a few hundred, especially on a Saturday which seems to be the busiest day. Put it this way, they have 2 people serving, each I'd estimate can produce a roll in around a minute. That's 120 rolls an hour and they have a good 2 hours each day where people are cueing out of the door.
Might be an idea? People love a carvery, seems even more so when its in a baguette!
Cheers
I like the idea of the snooker table at the entrance for cueing Local to where I live there is a butchers down a high street. They started doing carvery baguettes around 10 years ago to boost their business. You can have a baguette in small or large and the fillings you can choose from are roast beef, pork, turkey, chicken, sausages, bacon and you can have stuffing, apple sauce, cranberry, mayonnaise. Basically any combo you like.
They charge £2.50 for a small one and £3.00 for a large. People literally cue out of the door. This despite the fact there is a subway in the shop next door. Its fairly close to a college and all the students walk down there during their lunch hours. I have no idea how many they sell on a busy day but it must be a few hundred, especially on a Saturday which seems to be the busiest day. Put it this way, they have 2 people serving, each I'd estimate can produce a roll in around a minute. That's 120 rolls an hour and they have a good 2 hours each day where people are cueing out of the door.
Might be an idea? People love a carvery, seems even more so when its in a baguette!
Cheers
We have one local to our shop - Elevenses in North Camp, Farnborough. Been there for donkeys years.
A couple of years ago, another opened on Camp Road, just 100 yards away. It was actually a bakers, but also did freshly prepped sarnies. Because it was a bakers, the bread was better than elevenses, the fillings were arguably better, the salad was lovely and fresh and crisp, and the prices were pretty much the same. It even had a couple of tables so you could eat in with a coffee.
It shut a few months ago - Elevenses soldiers on. Their business works. They encourage offices to fax through large orders through the morning so they're ready to collect at lunchtime (minimise queueing), and they cater for business lunches (platters etc).
A couple of years ago, another opened on Camp Road, just 100 yards away. It was actually a bakers, but also did freshly prepped sarnies. Because it was a bakers, the bread was better than elevenses, the fillings were arguably better, the salad was lovely and fresh and crisp, and the prices were pretty much the same. It even had a couple of tables so you could eat in with a coffee.
It shut a few months ago - Elevenses soldiers on. Their business works. They encourage offices to fax through large orders through the morning so they're ready to collect at lunchtime (minimise queueing), and they cater for business lunches (platters etc).
For the money its a tough, life consuming business.
Local bakery's with nice desserts, fresh bread and selling sandwiches do well or, in city centres places like phillpots or pret a manger do well but their start up costs and wages will be high.
A cheap start up one man band operation will be costly. A mobile sandwich man may not be.
Local bakery's with nice desserts, fresh bread and selling sandwiches do well or, in city centres places like phillpots or pret a manger do well but their start up costs and wages will be high.
A cheap start up one man band operation will be costly. A mobile sandwich man may not be.
Chaps just to clarify, when I go on a sunday its rammed, I spend £25 / £30 on salmon, bagels and bits and so do lots of other people so maybe saying its a sandwich shop is misleading. Yes it will have a daily trade of whatever like a normal sandwich shop but the "social habit" of a bagel weekend breakfast would be something I would look to tap in to / educate. For obvious reasons the Jewish owned shops don't open on a Saturday but I would admittedly with Fridays bagels (lightly warmed no doubt).
This sundayI think its shut for new year but I will pop over when open and do some more serious footfall counting and size of bag watching.
So to recap. I expect most £ to be made on a weekend / sunday morning, anything we get during the week is a bonus and I will take it as it comes and adapt to demand. I will own the shop and it will have a few 2nd user fridge counters and larder fridges etc it wont be 5 star (you should see the Liverpool one its a tip) and I have picked up a lot of info from here PH at its best ;-)
This sundayI think its shut for new year but I will pop over when open and do some more serious footfall counting and size of bag watching.
So to recap. I expect most £ to be made on a weekend / sunday morning, anything we get during the week is a bonus and I will take it as it comes and adapt to demand. I will own the shop and it will have a few 2nd user fridge counters and larder fridges etc it wont be 5 star (you should see the Liverpool one its a tip) and I have picked up a lot of info from here PH at its best ;-)
I have a friend who knows the couple who started Eat very well. I'd say it's made a decent amount for them over 18 years. They started with one shop and worked in it themselves. He had a background in the city and she loves making things :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_(restaurant)
They work staggering hours though and have lived in the same fairly modest house for a good many years - mainly as they have little time to spend their money.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_(restaurant)
They work staggering hours though and have lived in the same fairly modest house for a good many years - mainly as they have little time to spend their money.
The Pher who set his shop up in Basingstoke hit the nail on the head- location is key. That is, by far and away, the most important factor. Without a great location, anything else you do, doesnt really matter. It was for this reason I didnt take an idea for a Sarnie shop forward.
I looked into, but decided against it purely because I couldnt find a location I was 100% happy with.
For my sins, I used to live in Luton. If any of you know the area, you have my sympathies. Although you will know the two sandwich guys who set up opposite, what was then, the Iceland near a pub called The Park. Those sarnies were delicious. The fillings were over flowing! Location was fantastic. In the centre of a student area with Sarnies priced to sell. Location, location, location.
I looked into, but decided against it purely because I couldnt find a location I was 100% happy with.
For my sins, I used to live in Luton. If any of you know the area, you have my sympathies. Although you will know the two sandwich guys who set up opposite, what was then, the Iceland near a pub called The Park. Those sarnies were delicious. The fillings were over flowing! Location was fantastic. In the centre of a student area with Sarnies priced to sell. Location, location, location.
That PHer hit the other nail on the head too, with sales even at 10K a week it was still not worth keeping going. I understand the OP does not intend a shopping centre as a location, so will save there, but on the other hand I also understand that his wife does not intend to be there all the time, so paying for someone to take her place will be an extra cost that most such businesses don't have.
There's been far too much said about queues, good products, and good prices in this thread, but the OP is AIUI a business man and will know that it's PROFIT that matters, not turnover.
You can get plenty of turnover in most business situations by lowering prices and reducing margin, but it's not turnover that pays the bills.
There's been far too much said about queues, good products, and good prices in this thread, but the OP is AIUI a business man and will know that it's PROFIT that matters, not turnover.
You can get plenty of turnover in most business situations by lowering prices and reducing margin, but it's not turnover that pays the bills.
DSLiverpool said:
Yes it will have a daily trade of whatever like a normal sandwich shop but the "social habit" of a bagel weekend breakfast would be something I would look to tap in to / educate.
So to recap. I expect most £ to be made on a weekend / sunday morning, anything we get during the week is a bonus and I will take it as it comes and adapt to demand. I will own the shop and it will have a few 2nd user fridge counters and larder fridges etc it wont be 5 star (you should see the Liverpool one its a tip) and I have picked up a lot of info from here PH at its best ;-)
I just don't know what this Sunday "social habit" is. I know nobody that does it. And can;t think why on a sunday morning I'd drive to a bagel shop. Sunday mornings are slow & easy at home. If you are running a sandwich shop based on weekend/Sunday mornings, it won;t work.So to recap. I expect most £ to be made on a weekend / sunday morning, anything we get during the week is a bonus and I will take it as it comes and adapt to demand. I will own the shop and it will have a few 2nd user fridge counters and larder fridges etc it wont be 5 star (you should see the Liverpool one its a tip) and I have picked up a lot of info from here PH at its best ;-)
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