Espresso flows at Haymarket
Beanscene – the fast growing coffee and music house chain spreading throughout the neighbourhoods of Scotland’s main towns and cities - open its 13th store in Haymarket, Edinburgh today (Wednesday 24th May 2006). The new 1900 sq ft Haymarket Beanscene can accommodate 70 customers and is situated at 2 Grosvenor Street on the corner of Haymarket Cross, just across from Haymarket train station.
Gordon Richardson, Beanscene CEO, said, ‘Haymarket is exactly the right location for Beanscene and we’ve been keen to open here for some time. Now that we’ve found such a prime location, we’re looking forward to welcoming new customers to Beanscene at Haymarket.’ The new Haymarket store will open from 6.30am - the earliest of all Beanscenes - in order to serve the morning rush hour of early bird commuters looking to kick-start the working day with a fresh cup of coffee. The new store joins three other Edinburgh Beanscenes at Parkgate, South Bridge and Edinburgh Quay while another five outlets are scheduled to open in the capital this year at South Gyle, Broughton, Morningside, Stockbridge and Commercial Quay, Leith.
Beanscene offers a broad selection of coffees, soft drinks and accompanying muffins, baguettes, sandwiches and pastries and its food offering extends to soups, salads, vegan stews, tapas, pizza and paella available all day - with healthy options for kids - and it operates a Bring Your Own Bottle policy too. Evoking the coffee culture promoted through the coffee houses of ‘60’s Soho, London, Greenwich Village, NYC and the Italian quarter of San Francisco, Beanscene offers a simple, loungy and highly customer focused environment which is both cool and accessible. Founded in 2000 with the aim of creating a place where 25-50 year olds could go to spend some time with friends and families; somewhere that kids were made to feel welcome; where customers could sit back and soak up some sounds while chilling out over an espresso and a bite to eat in their own backyard.
Six years from start-up, Beanscene has already started to evolve into a broader-based lifestyle business targeted at 25-50 year olds whilst remaining true to its original ethos. This evolution has been achieved through the launch of record label Luna and a regular schedule of live acoustic in-store performances. Meanwhile, the Scene is Beanscene’s unique triple A (Alternative, Adult, Album) format in-store and internet radio station, designed to ensure that whether you’re at work, rest or play, Beanscene can continue to provide the perfect soundtrack to your life. ‘What sets Beanscene apart from all the other coffee houses and music retailers out there is that we bring our passion for music and the constant pursuit of the ultimate caffeine kick together at each and every store,’ said Richardson. ‘When you visit Beanscene, you can sit down with wired java, latte, cappuccino, espresso or the rest, choose from a mouth-watering selection of freshly made sandwiches and pastries and tune in to the ‘sound of the scene’. ‘At the end of the day Beanscene is a state of mind, somewhere to kick back, relax and take life in on its most simple and enjoyable level; the simple concept of coffee, music and conversation - for all the family.’
That coffee and music combo has proved incredibly popular with Scots. There are currently 13 Beanscenes spread throughout Scotland and the business will officially ‘come of age’ by the year end when there will be 21 stores. Beanscene’s turnover is currently £4.2 million and it employs some 200 staff.