What does the Peet's Coffee store opening in Xi'an show about demand?

Peet's opened its first Northwest China store at Xi'an Daduhui, drawing crowds who queued from early morning, with the line curving twice and waits of about two hours. The draw was limited-edition city merch: fridge magnets, enamel cups and kraft paper backpacks. The store only takes bar orders, as online ordering is not yet open.

Peet's plans three Xi'an stores in total, with the rest to follow. Some consumers remain cautious about the brand's inland prospects, noting that high prices may face challenges in the current spending climate, even as the queue suggests strong interest in novelty items regardless of coffee bean origin.

The chain coffee brand Peet's opened its first store in Northwest China at Xi'an Daduhui, drawing a large crowd of fans who queued up early in the morning on opening day. What attracted the crowd was not just the title of "first store in the region," but the limited-edition city-exclusive fridge magnets, enamel cups, and kraft paper backpacks and other merchandise. The number of people queuing on site was so large that the line curved around twice, and customers generally had to wait about two hours to enter the store. The store has not yet opened online ordering channels and only supports ordering at the bar, which affected efficiency to some extent. Peet's plans to open three stores in Xi'an in total, with subsequent stores to appear one after another. However, some consumers and enthusiasts remain观望 about the brand's long-term performance in the inland market, believing that high-priced products may face challenges in the current consumption environment.

▲

Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Workshop

This morning, many passersby near Xi'an Daduhui saw a puzzling scene: a coffee shop had not yet opened, but a long line had already formed at its entrance, with people in the queue craning their necks to see whether the store door had opened.

People who did not understand the phenomenon asked around and only then learned that it was the Xi'an debut of the chain coffee brand Peet's opening today, and that this was also Peet's first store in the Northwest region.

However, the real reason people rushed to line up early on a weekday morning was not the title of "first store in the region," but the limited-edition merchandise. It is understood that, in addition to promotional activities, the new store also offered city-exclusive fridge magnets, enamel cups, and kraft paper backpacks, but the quantities of the merchandise were all small, so fans arrived early at the store, afraid they would not be able to grab what they wanted.

Users queuing on site reported that before 9 a.m. quite a few fans had already gathered at the entrance, and as time passed, more and more people joined the line. Office workers in nearby office buildings posted photos saying that the long line at Peet's entrance had already curved around twice.

Perhaps to avoid making the opening event even more chaotic, the store has not yet opened purchasing channels through its official mini-program or third-party delivery platforms, and customers can only order at the bar. However, according to consumers, because staff asked customers questions and then placed orders for them on site, overall efficiency was not high, and people generally had to wait 2 hours before entering the store to buy.

In addition, some customers said that if they ordered freshly made drinks, they had to take a small slip and wait a while longer to pick up their order. Therefore, some customers who only wanted to get the merchandise decisively gave up buying coffee and instead met the merchandise redemption requirements by topping up stored value or buying coffee beans.

It is reported that Peet's entry this time includes plans to open three stores in Xi'an in total. In addition to the first store at Daduhui that opened today, the store located in Qujiang Creative Valley will open at the end of September, and another is rumored to possibly be located in the Xi'an MixC currently under construction.

Peet's, whose stores are mainly concentrated in coastal areas, is expanding inland, and its successive store openings have greatly satisfied the expectations of local fans. But in the eyes of some people, Peet's choice to enter the Northwest market at this time may later follow in the footsteps of other chain brands.

They said that Mstand, also located in Daduhui, presented the same bustling scene on its first day of opening, with huge crowds at the entrance making it impossible to find the entrance at a glance. But now the store's business is gradually becoming quieter, and in other stores there are even situations where there are more servers than customers, with the former prosperity long gone.

Enthusiasts also believe that among the many chain brands, although Peet's coffee quality is somewhat guaranteed, its prices are not cheap. In the current era of consumption downgrading, although some coffee consumers will try new things and follow the trend by buying a cup of specialty coffee costing thirty or forty yuan, in their daily consumption they actually care more about cost-effectiveness, and are more likely to repurchase lower-priced coffee from other brands.

As one netizen said, if there had not been the spectacle of queuing caused by rushing to buy limited-edition merchandise, perhaps for local consumers it would have been nothing more than another newly opened coffee shop in the plaza called Peet's.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Disclaimer: Some images in this article are from the internet. For some content on the website, such as images, we will respect the original author's copyright and indicate the source. However, due to the large volume, there may be individual images or texts that have not yet been credited in time. Please forgive us. If the original author has any disputes, they may contact the website for handling. Once verified, we will correct it immediately. Compiled and edited by "Coffee Workshop." Please indicate the source when reprinting. If there is infringement, please inform us for deletion. Thank you~!

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.