On another note, could “Cerealicious: the next Starbucks?” blogs the Retail Marketing Management MBA course at Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario:
In a sense, the RVP of Cerealicious mimics that of Starbucks. Customers feel the value derived from the unique experience, convenience and customized selection overpowers outrageous prices. In fact, Ego and Thorne-Simpson have publicly announced their goal of developing Cerealicious into “the Starbucks of the cereal industry”.
I tried to add a comment, but they wouldn’t let me. So here’s what I wanted to compare/ contrast:
There’s a comparable franchise called Cereality that are located near college campuses in the US, and their retail cafe’ approach really plays out the whole breakfast anytime experience. But at $3.50+ per bowl of cereal, and having just gone there on a recent Philly trip, I have a difficult time seeing how it’ll be financially viable. I don’t think there are that many cereal lovers that’d go there 3 or more times a week — which I think is what it’d take to have enough regular customers to sustain it.
Hi DJ,
We were just in Asheville, NC and they have a place called “Eaties” it’s a cereal place too – very cool. It seemed it was the atmospher that was most attractive (especially to younger college age people) that and you can get a combo cereal with cocoa krispies, count chocula, cookie crisps and chocolate milk, all in the same bowl. This is a college students dream come true. That and a cup of coffee should keep them up for a week straight
peace -
natala
Referenced at: http://breakfastbowl.blogspot.com/2007/04/cereal-and-bloggers.html
Natala, I found Eaties’ website over at MySpace http://blog.myspace.com/eaties ; I also found another startup cereal restaurant place call The Cereal Bowl in Miami. Franchising opportunities abound — all you need is about $300k
Someone emailed me with a good question: “What do u think about a cereal bar in a shopping center kiosk (where you don’t need loyal customers to sustain it)?”
My initial hunch is that this could work if the cereal kiosk happens to be in the right place at the right time. It’d have to be in a location where cereal eaters frequent. Food kiosks that seem to work better are those that meet an impulse need like a coffee or latte, or a quick lunch — be it a hot dog stand, burritos, and quick-serve fast-food of a sandwich or pastry variety.