TIDYMAN'S COFFEE BAR HOT IN MONTANA

ROSEANNE HARPER

GREEN ACRES, Wash. -- Thanks to drinks with catchy names like Summer Buzz, special staff training and an apparently unslakeable local thirst for coffee, sales at a coffee bar in a Tidyman's unit in Montana are far exceeding industry averages this summer.

The espresso bar, at a unit in Kalistell, Mont., has been ringing up $8,000 to $10,000 every week, with sales up nearly 30% from six months ago, said Connie Maclean, espresso bar manager there. "It doesn't matter whether it's hot or cold, or what's going on, sales keep increasing. On rainy days, we do a great business," Maclean said.

Although the bar also sells coffee beans, fresh ground coffee by the pound, and brownies, most rings come from the espresso drinks, Maclean said. The gross margin for the drinks is 65% to 75%, with labor representing 22% of the retail price.

"A volume like that in a supermarket indicates a very successful operation. Even the upscale supermarkets here in Seattle go through no more than 40 to 60 pounds of coffee a week in their espresso bars," said a source at one of the major Seattle-based suppliers of espresso bars.

The Tidyman's unit uses well over 100 pounds of coffee a week. About 600 to 800 customers are served at the bar every day.

What accounts for a trendy program's growth in a town of 21,000 with a basically blue-color population? Mansour Alzaharna, director of deli and supervisor of espresso bars for 10-unit Tidyman's, based here, credits good training from the company's major coffee supplier and "excellent" customer service. "The coffee company trains our people well, so they know the coffees and can answer customers' questions," Alzaharna said. Last year, the supplier flew all the retailer's espresso bar managers to Seattle for a tour of a variety of coffee operations.

The bar is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. More than 75% of the business is take-out. "Because we have full-time, permanent employees working the espresso bar, I've been able to get them into an efficient routine. During the busiest hours, we have three employees. One steams the milk, one takes orders and money, and the other is a runner. She adds flavoring, fills the cups, does whatever else there is to do at the moment. We have it down to a science. I tried using four employees at peak hours, but we seemed to get in each other's way," Maclean said.

Some 30 people can be standing in line -- and that's not uncommon -- but nobody will have to wait more than seven or eight minutes. They probably wouldn't mind even if they did, because getting coffee at Tidyman's espresso bar has become sort of a social event, Maclean points out.

"I instruct my employees to learn people's names, and something about them, so they can greet them by name and make a little conversation. And after a week or two, I expect them to know what those customers are going to order," Maclean said. It makes customers feel good when the employee remembers what they like, and it also makes the line move quickly, she added.

"We have beauticians and loggers and doctors and car salesmen stopping on their way to work every day," Maclean said. Sampling continues to be an important part of the business, which was started up two and a half years ago. And she believes in letting the customer call the shots.

"We've had people order a straight espresso and then realize they don't like it. That's no problem. We might suggest that we add steamed milk and sugar and make them a cappuccino, or we'll start all over," she said. "We also suggest drinks. I've been telling one customer she ought to try our iced cappuccino. So the other morning I just made her one and told her it was on me. She called me later from her office to tell me how good it was."

Maclean said her employees don't get in trouble for giving a customer something, such as a free birthday drink. They do hear from her though if they seem to be having trouble smiling. There are other espresso bars in town, but Maclean's customers tell her that it's the "personality" of Tidyman's operation that brings them back.

The espresso bar is located at the entrance of the store, a crucial position, Maclean and Alzaharna agreed.

The only seating is provided by chairs at two small tables and stools at a counter. A chalkboard lists menu items. Offerings include single-shot cappuccino: $1.25; a double, $1.75, and a triple, $2.25. Straight espresso is $1 for one shot, $1.50 for a double, and $2 for a triple. Single-shot mocha (espresso, steamed milk and chocolate syrup), $1.75; double mocha, $2.25; and triple mocha, $2.75. Shots refer to how much espresso is used in a drink. A shot is approximately one ounce. Double mocha leads the pack, Maclean said.