The business was closed for the previous 10-plus days for a deep clean, new AC installation, and reorganization following a successful crowdfunding and subscription plan that kept the city's first dog-friendly cafe (as well as the Williamsburg outpost) open.
Ahead of the return, daughter-father co-owners Logan Mikhly and Coppy Holzman emailed patrons with a few of the changes:
• We brought on a General Manager to ensure the smooth running of both locations and an Events Manager to expand our dog-friendly programming• We started a loyalty program for guests to earn cafe discounts and rewards• We're now laptop-free on weekends after 10 a.m.• We're offering tableside ordering during busy times
On Feb. 16, Mikhly and Holzman announced that the cafe was closing on Feb. 26 after six years of anchoring the NW corner of Avenue A and 12th Street.
They weren't making enough money, and as Holzman told NY1, "It's expensive to maintain top safety measures for a dog-friendly restaurant required by the Department of Health."
However, the unwavering support of the cafe's fans turned the tide. They devised ideas to keep the business going, such as selling subscription boxes filled with dog treats and merchandise from Boris & Horton's line of products.
Boris & Horton hit their $250,000 goal from Feb. 23-25.
6 comments:
"We're now laptop-free on weekends after 10 a.m." this should be for everyday of the week.
At 10:23 AM, @noble neolani said:
this should be for everyday of the week.
You said it; if you want to spend hours on your computer—in your own little world with imaginary friends—you might as well stay home.
@Noble neolani - It really depends on customer volume. Being laptop-free is generally to (a) create more turnover or (b) cultivate an atmosphere.
I would hope the B&H team did some research to see low-ticket turnover was low (i.e. people not spending much taking up seats for a long time) and coupled that with observations of heavy laptop usage to figure out one way to eliminate low turnover. But that strategy also has to be taken knowing there is unfulfilled demand (i.e. people who want to sit down but can't), which is much more likely to happen on the weekends for most businesses of this sort than the weekdays.
I think plenty of the folks on laptops go there with good intentions but could use some education in regards to how being there for a long period of time and taking up the space negatively affects the business. Not everything has to be all or nothing.
bring a lap dog.
every cafe is a dog cafe these days.
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