The Broadway Café

The products offered by Broadway Cafe: coffees, teas, bread, sandwiches, soups and salads are all homemade. This means that customers will get a feel of being comfy and at home with the products offered by the Cafe. Moreover, the Cafe also does not have that feel of being too commercialized, compared with major coffee shop brands that have sprung in recent years. With the specialized products of Broadway Cafe, its patrons feel special that they are part of a unique Cafe experience. Broadway Cafe is part of the history of the city.The Cafe started operating in 1952. It is amazing that it continues to operate to this day. Although, in some aspects, it has not caught up with technological and operational innovations, it is already a part of the city’s history and part of the local flavor that make the city unique. Because of this, city residents who have developed a fondness for the Cafe will not want to see it close down. Grandfather knew every customer of the cafe. This is part of the unique experience of going to the Cafe.In Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, he described his experiences of going to various cafes in Paris. With grandfather knowing every customer of the cafe, they developed friendships and the customers became even more loyal to the Broadway Cafe. Small operations. The Broadway Cafe has small operations. As such, it can easily implement changes without disrupting any major operations. The operational expense of the Cafe is not very large. Therefore, the profits of the Cafe could be easily reinvested into the business. 2. Weaknesses of the Cafe. Only grandfather knows the recipes.This is a weakness because when grandfather dies, then no one else will be able to retrieve the recipes and write them down. There should be at least one other person who knows the recipes and write them down so it would be easy to pass them on. Customer information and data are not stored anywhere else. Knowing every customer of the Cafe is great! Howeve r, only grandfather knows them all. It would also be better for these information to be written down so that I will get to know the existing customers and develop friendship with them, too. Orders are taken manually.Taking orders manually is time-consuming. Some customers may be in a hurry and this process will certainly slow them down. Investing in a good P. O. S. system will help the Cafe take and serve orders more quickly. Inventory tracking is outdated and prone to mistakes. Without an effective inventory tracking system, mistakes will be committed and costs may even go up more than necessary. 3. Threats to the Cafe. Entry of new Cafe in the city. The growth of Starbucks in the past decade has been remarkable. It has penetrated virtually every major city in the world.The entry of Starbucks and other commercial cafe in our city will be a threat to the Broadway Cafe. As such, the Cafe will have to capitalize on its strengths and upgrade its operations so it can compete with the co mmercial cafes. The economic downturn. With the present economic downturn being faced by the United States, the spending power of customers is diminished. As such, they may choose to forego going to the Cafe because of economic reasons. 4. Recommendations for upgrading and bringing the Cafe into the 21st century. Capitalize on the strengths of Broadway Cafe.Essentially, the way that grandfather treated every customer will be recreated. I, as the manager, and the employees of the Cafe will be trained to know every customer and establish friendship with them. Document (on video and on paper) the recipes of the Cafe. This is a sure way of preserving the knowledge of grandfather through the generations to come. If his recipes are committed to paper, the Cafe will be able to include two or more chefs who can help in preparing the orders of customers. Purchase a computerized Point-of-Sale system plus inventory tracking software.By automating the processes of taking order and of tracking i nventory, the Cafe will become more efficient and customers do not have to wait in long lines to be served. The twenty first century has become very busy for working professionals. They would appreciate if orders were taken and served more quickly than before. Craft and implement a marketing plan for the Cafe. Word-of-mouth will remain as the major marketing strategy of the company. However, with the advent of the 21st century, a marketing plan needs to be crafted and implemented, including the creation of a website and the sponsorship of events in the Cafe premises.