Coffee drinkers pay US$32 for a single cup and a side of luxury
A luxury chain setting up shops across Manhattan is betting customers from Los Angeles to Chicago will be willing to pay US$32 for an eight-ounce cup of coffee .
London-based WatchHouse, which expanded to a fourth location in Manhattan this week, plans to open a store next year in Los Angeles and is scouting for spots in cities including Austin, Chicago and Miami, according to a person familiar with the plans. A fifth Manhattan shop will debut in NoMad in September and another is under construction in the Brookfield Place complex in the Battery Park City neighbourhood.
The Bambito Estate, at US$32, is the most expensive item on the menu at its newest location in midtown Manhattan.
Breaking business news, incisive views, must-reads and market signals. Weekdays by 9 a.m.
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
“It’s kinda insane, I know,” said barista Joseph Peachey, 27, as he prepared a Bambito Estate. It’s steeped from beans from a family farm in western Panama and served with a side of cold-brewed green tea that is to be sipped as a palate cleanser.
WatchHouse got its start in 2014 when Roland Horne, the founder and chief executive, converted a 19th century building on Bermondsey Street in London into a cafe. It took its name from the structure, a watch house that once sheltered guards who looked after a nearby church.
The company’s backers include HighPost Capital, an investment firm cofounded by Mark Bezos, the younger brother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The chain so far has stores in London, New York, the United Arab Emirates and Bath, England.
WatchHouse’s menu includes budget-friendly options, with a straight black coffee priced at US$4. As the company says on its website, the intention is to welcome “the connoisseur and the casually curious in equal measure.”
But what about that US$32 cup? Coffee aficionados have historically demonstrated tolerance for elevated prices , said Emily Murawski, research and insights manager at Datassential, a market-research firm in Chicago. That’s especially true when there’s a big jump in quality, Murawski added.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on financialpost.com — the content belongs to Financial Post.
