Coffee anyone?

Recently I was walking downtown on the ever-busy Granville Street when I came across a rather new coffee shop situated, BG Urban Cafe. I’ve passed by many times before since it opened a couple of months before, however this was the first time I took a good look at the store front.

Located just steps away from London Drugs and two Starbucks, BG Urban cafe had a very “cool independent” coffee shop feel courtesy of their name, logo and store design. It seemed like the type of place where young professionals would sit back, relax and purchase expensive lattes with elaborate latte art foam.

It was almost refreshing to see something that wasn’t a chain store occupying the touristy street. However, upon closer inspection, I discovered a sign that said “Bread Garden cafe: We have a new look!”

I was taken aback completely, for me, Bread Garden symbolized a tired, old chain store that sold mediocre sandwiches and passable coffee. I knew of no one in my age demographic that frequented this store.  Since when did they become a “urban” cafe?

I believe that the company realized this and decided to completely re-brand their store into something that is currently very popular with the younger generation, the “independent” coffee shop. This is evidenced by the popularity of stores like Cafe Artigiano, JJ Bean, 49th Parallel and more.

And it seemed to be working so far, the store itself was rather busy and you could see groups of 20-somethings sitting in the comfortable plush seats by the window chatting up a storm.

However, I still associated the brand with the old, little shop by Metrotown, a new name and store atmospherics has not been able to change my view so far. It really highlights the difficulties companies face when they try to completely rebrand and change their image.