I actually visited Hudson in Milwaukee this morning. It's in an excellent location and it's beautiful. Right in Milwaukee's 3rd ward which has seen a major renaissance in the last 5 years. They actually call their coworking space a business lounge and I'd say it has more of a formal feeling than many coworking spaces but it is very attractive, modern, comfortable, friendly. Not business center-y at all. You walk in to a shared entrance for the cafe/bar and the coworking space but you immediately select one or the other. The coworking space opens up with a long table of "benched" seating and I didn't notice any coffee shop sounds at all. They share a wall but the entrances are essentially separate. The HVAC fan was on (gorgeous exposed duct work) so it was great white noise which might have drowned out some of the coffee shop sounds if there were any. The coffee shop itself is really comfortable with high end lounge chairs. There were people working in the cafe and a large group having a meeting in a large lounge space. I have no idea how their bar does at night but I think they have a well-executed design for running three businesses under one roof. They do not supply free coffee to the coworking members but they get 10% off of their purchases in the cafe. If you own the building, this type of model might make good sense. Trying to operate them both in the same space without real separation, per the posts below, sounds like a suboptimal approach.
On Monday, October 14, 2013 11:51:53 AM UTC-5, Matthew Straub wrote: > > NextDoor Chicago does this pretty well (but it's more of an > event/community space than coworking space, per se). > https://www.nextdoorchi.com > > And thank you for the article! I also read this article the other day > about giving coffee shops back to the community, which I thought made > awesome, similar points: > http://www.boston.com/business/innovation/blogs/inside-the-hive/2013/10/07/coworker-not-coffeeshopper/C2adUKikZKLsLO9vTk7gVO/blog.html > > On Sunday, October 13, 2013 7:47:53 PM UTC-5, LA Tripp wrote: >> >> This is really helpful, thank you! >> >> I was wondering about the noise and interruptions. I can see that a very >> separate space would be necessary, and then what's the point of having an >> "attached" coffee shop at all? Jerome mentioned spaces that combine >> coworking and food service: Betahaus in Berlin, Hudson Business Lounge in >> Milwaukee and The Desk in Denver. They look like the cafe is quite >> separate, though its hard to tell from the pictures. The Desk seems to have >> the Cafe as their central business, with the coworking on an hourly basis. >> I looked at CentralWorking's site and can't get a clear idea of their floor >> plan to see how it works for them, though it's a beautiful place. >> >> I did notice that some of the cafe/coworking places still offer free drip >> coffee to coworkers. The cafe owner I talked to actually first offered to >> supply my space with coffee service- this may be the most practical way to >> go after all. I'll have a kitchen no matter what. I know we can have food >> and alcohol at events with a permit- that may be better than complicating >> matters with a restaurant. Tom, if I do partner with a cafe, I'll keep your >> observations in the front of my mind when it comes to designing the space. >> >> This has been very valuable! Thank you! >> >> ~Loren >> >> On Sunday, October 13, 2013 8:13:12 AM UTC-7, Tom Brandt - Workantile >> wrote: >>> >>> Workantile had a coffee shop in the front of our space for a while when >>> we first opened, but it did not work. >>> >>> Even though the coffee shop was separated from the coworking area by a >>> couple of walls, noise from the bean grinders, espresso machine, and >>> chatter from the coffee shop customers spilled over into the coworking >>> area. There was a constant stream of coffee shop customers traipsing >>> through the coworking area to use the bathrooms. It was all incredibly >>> distracting. Pretty much everything people hated about working in coffee >>> shops was there in the coworking area. >>> >>> The shop eventually moved out into a larger space, and we claimed their >>> former space for our own. This worked out for everyone - the shop got more >>> space, we got more space, and the distractions that the coffee shop imposed >>> on us were gone. We now provide Zingerman's coffee in our kitchen for >>> members. There are several coffee shops within a couple blocks of >>> Workantile that members use as well. >>> >>> It sounds like a good idea, but unless you carefully work out noise >>> isolation, bathroom access, foot traffic flow, and so forth, there will be >>> problems. >>> >>> >>> On Sun, Oct 13, 2013 at 2:41 AM, Fay Easton < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi - always felt this might work but not yet tried it at our hubs - >>>> seems to have taken off brilliantly here:**** >>>> >>>> www.centralworking.com at the BLOOMSBURY unit.**** >>>> >>>> Footfall is mega in that area so am sure that contributes to the >>>> success and the ‘front seating’ at stools/bars is not designed for laptop >>>> width! Member area / fab co working space that you can see on the pics on >>>> the site is accessed through turnstile **** >>>> >>>> Interesting article & comments on the Coffee Shop Squatters thanks for >>>> sharing that - agree with consensus that one hour code would protect the >>>> business owners’ investment & onward trade.**** >>>> >>>> New style’ units may well spring up based on market demand - Working >>>> Cafes where the coffee may be dearer but the service is costed in.**** >>>> >>>> Best,**** >>>> >>>> Fay**** >>>> >>>> ** ** >>>> >>>> ** ** >>>> >>>> *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On >>>> Behalf Of *LA Tripp >>>> *Sent:* 13 October 2013 07:25 >>>> *To:* [email protected] >>>> *Subject:* [Coworking] Coffee Shop/Coworking Combination Business Model >>>> **** >>>> >>>> ** ** >>>> >>>> Hi All! >>>> >>>> I have been searching for this in the past threads but haven't found >>>> this exactly. I was wondering if anyone has a Coworking space and coffee >>>> shop combination, where the coffee shop is an actual cafe run by a >>>> separate >>>> entity? The cafe would be in the front showroom area of the old auto >>>> dealership building I have in mind, with coworking in the warehouse/office >>>> part in the back; there would be some separation of the spaces, but I'd >>>> like to at least have a clear view into some the coworking space from the >>>> cafe. I have someone who might be interested, and it would certainly pull >>>> in potential coworkers. With the exception of Starbucks, most cafes in >>>> Pasadena are discontinuing their wifi, so I don't think anyone would be >>>> especially outraged if that wasn't offered in the cafe part. What may >>>> irritate coworkers is paying for coffee! Anyone have a business model for >>>> this they could share? Or is this a bad combo, and why? >>>> >>>> You all might get a kick out of this segement a few weeks ago on our >>>> local radio station about Coffee Shop Squatters: >>>> http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2013/09/10/33648/coffeehouses-fight-back-against-wi-fi-squatters/ >>>> >>>> I was driving and so I couldn't call in and plug coworking as the >>>> solution! >>>> >>>> Many thanks! >>>> >>>> Loren**** >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.**** >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> twb >>> member, Workantile <http://workantile.com/> >>> @twbrandt >>> >> -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
