Street food / Street food
20th Century Flicks coffee stand plan hatched
Bristol’s last remaining video rental shop, 20th Century Flicks, has opened a stand to sell coffee and snacks.
The Christmas Steps shop is looking to diversify from just offering DVD and video rental. Their new stand, called The Hatch, offers a range of drinks and refreshments.
20th Century Flicks co-director Tara Judah says The Hatch has been set up “so people can feel relaxed, at home, hang around and have a nice time”.
is needed now More than ever
“You don’t have to come here to rent a film,” she adds.
Increasing visibility seems likely to get the shop noticed by more passers-by, potentially increasing business. But is it about the money? Tara says the addition is more of a bonus feature than a means of increasing profits.
“We’re running a film shop in 2015. If it were about the money, we wouldn’t been doing this”.
If it were about the money, they also probably wouldn’t be offering an espresso at £1 and a choc ice at 50p, meaning lower profit margins than many of their counterparts.
Tara, however, does emphasise the importance of adding extra sides to the shop to draw in customers: “It is true that video stores do need to provide other things in 2015 besides just being a video rental store.”
20th Century Flicks also has customer wi-fi and hires out the ‘Flicks Kino’, which costs groups £50 to book for two hours to watch one of the store’s 18,000 films.
Will The Hatch prove to be a bright idea? Either way, it does promise to brighten things up.
“It makes our days a little brighter. We quite literally let in a bit more sunlight by opening it up,” Tara says.
“We all love our working environment, we all love being here, and it feels like this shop is something of a home to us.”