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Wheelys set up outside Starbucks (via YouTube).jpgVideo: CEO of mobile bike café franchise plonks one of her sellers directly outside Starbucks
She says they’re not a competitor, but Maria De La Croix, the CEO of mobile bike café franchise, Wheelys, still saw fit to set up right outside Starbucks for a day. After reportedly serving 210 customers to Starbucks’ 148 in the time her seller was there, they may be wondering about their decision not to employ De La Croix because she had blue hair.
De La Croix says she applied for a job at Starbucks three years ago. Not that she bears a grudge, but she thought it would be entirely appropriate to set up directly outside one of their cafés to see how her new business fared in comparison.
They’re not rivals though. “Starbucks basically offers the same GMO sugared drinks as McDonalds and all the rest, only with a different logo,” she says. “To compare us with Starbucks would be like calling Best Western Hotels a competitor to AirBnB. We are growing with three outlets per day right now, yet we have just scratched the surface of our potential. Sure, we might force Starbucks out of business, but that would not be a goal, but collateral damage.”
The blue hair, it seems, is no longer a problem. Although she does admit that she’s used to people looking for “the real boss” behind her.
Billing itself as ‘the world’s greenest café,’ Wheelys mobile cafés are trikes furnished with a solar panel, electric motor and an optional windmill. Last month, the firm easily surpassed its $100,000 funding goal on Indiegogo and it has now raised $2.5m in further funding with investors including Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail; Jared Friedman, Founder of Scribd; and Justin Waldron, aco-founder of Zynga.
They also offer one more Starbucks comparison which goes some way towards explaining their success. Where a Starbucks franchise apparently costs $500,000 to start, a Wheelys café costs just $5,000.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- ErnieC 21 min 6 sec ago
No chance of that ever being a human being.
- ErnieC 27 min 16 sec ago
Are there guidelines for when generalisations are valid?
- Pub bike 28 min 41 sec ago
Any divine entity would surely by now have helped humans implement self-driving cars that never cause harm so that there is no way this type of...
- Rome73 1 hour 5 min ago
I'm sorry I don't accept that the majority of cyclists are 'psychopaths'. There are some 'nutters' out there - but I would hazard a guess that most...
- Rik Mayals underpants 16 hours 35 min ago
Here's my cycling related Christmas gift. Beautiful enamel garage sign to go above my Campagnolo Super Record RS equipped Colnago.
- Rendel Harris 20 hours 43 min ago
No idea if Cancellara was using a motor or not, I hope not as I greatly enjoyed him as a rider, but the tech was certainly available, I can...
- SecretSam 23 hours 32 min ago
Usual ugly Pinarello, bumps and curves where they aren't needed. And, according to Mapdec, not well built.
- Spangly Shiny 1 day 21 hours ago
I had the pleasure of owning two of the featured builders here, in my history. When I joined the Army in 1971, I took with me my curly Hetchins:...
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10 comments
Sould I ever visit a Starbucks again, when they ask for my name I think I'll reply 'call me Ishmael...'
Best one I heard was in a big queue at starbucks - when the server asked for the person at the front's name, and someone at the back shouted "don't tell him Pike!"
Didn't Starbucks build its business by brand bombing? That is they'd identify a location and open a couple of (loss making) shops until the competition was squeezed out, then close one of the loss making shops thusly leaving Starbucks with the one remaining coffee shop in the location.
It was also very satisfying to see their first attempt of entering Spain fail, less satisfying that they are more successful in their second attempt. But here's hoping they fail again.
I'm sure they'll applaud the ingenuity of this entrepreneur.
Starbucks always use the competition is good for business card when applying for planning permission, usually near to a local established business that they then surround with advertising & undercut, nice to see them getting a taste of their own medicine
I've always wondered why Starbucks coffee is almost always lukewarm by the time you get it, even though you've watched their barista push a button, then push another button, then call out whatever fake name you've given them...
Blimey, I've always found it scalding hot, sealed into the mug by the thick, dense layer of insulating foam.
Well, considering this is very much Starbucks business expansion strategy (swamp an area with outlets so that the competition goes out of business then close those that are not turning a profit), it's only fair... Nice one.
Good luck to her. Even set up outside a Starbucks she isn't a direct competitor as obviously they can only offer take away. No doubt the product will be better value (cost vs product quality) and no doubt, for now, the business is too small to avoid it taxation responsibilities.
Don't see anything wrong with setting up near to a coffee shop it gives the consumer a choice, and whilst I have no idea what the mobile stuff tastes like I know I don't like starbucks version of coffee.
"Sure, we might force Starbucks out of business, but that would not be a goal, but collateral damage."
Ha ha, love it!
Shouldn't be hard to produce better coffee than $tarbucks.