Why Is Manner Scaling Back Its Barista Coffee Origin Stores?

Reports say Manner's only roasting store in Wuhan, located in Wuhan Tiandi, may cease operations on October 30. Opened in late 2021, it was one of the brand's earliest Wuhan locations and the only one in the city selling roasted products. Local consumers reacted with regret, with some calling it their favorite in the city.

Manner has scaled back its roasting business since July, and the stated reason is that the business was not profitable. Roasted items were priced low, with sea salt rolls and cheese bagels at 8 yuan. At the same time, the brand is pushing into third- and fourth-tier cities, while customers frequently mention understaffing at stores. The barista coffee origin question, in this case, is about how far a brand carries in-store roasting.

Recently, there have been reports that Manner's only roasting store in Wuhan may cease operations on October 30, prompting many local consumers to express regret. Since opening in late 2021, this store, located in Wuhan Tiandi, has been one of the earliest Manner locations in Wuhan and the only one in the city where roasted products can be purchased. Meanwhile, Manner has continued to scale back its roasting business this year and accelerate its expansion into third- and fourth-tier cities, while the issue of understaffing at stores has frequently been mentioned by customers. Front Street will continue to follow this brand's developments.

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A local Wuhan netizen tipped off that Manner's roasting store in Wuhan Tiandi is expected to close on October 30. Judging from the pictures shared by the netizen, this store opened in late 2021. It is not only the only Manner store in the Wuhan area selling roasted products, but also one of the brand's earliest stores to enter Wuhan.

After the news spread, many netizens expressed regret. Some lamented that after this store closes, "the sense of relaxation in Wuhan Tiandi is drifting further and further away from us"; others called it the Manner with "the most style" in their minds and their "favorite in Wuhan." Some netizens also felt surprised and confused about the closure, because this roasting store's "business is very good." The phrase "sense of relaxation" also appeared repeatedly in everyone's comments.

Looking back at earlier cases where Manner removed roasted products from some stores, although many customers felt Manner's baked goods were "cheap and delicious," the brand still gradually shut down its roasting business starting in July this year, with the fundamental reason being that this business was not profitable. Manner's roasting products were priced in an approachable way, with sea salt rolls and cheese bagels selling for only 8 yuan, letting many customers enjoy the fun of "getting a bargain," and some even jokingly called Manner a "bread philanthropist." A Shanghai netizen mentioned that a Manner employee revealed that because roasting was not making money, they had received a notice from headquarters requiring the products to be taken off the shelves.

Taking Shanghai as an example, data from the Manner coffee mini-program shows that before July 3, 2024, a total of 27 stores in Shanghai carried the "roasting" label, while currently only 9 stores selling roasted products can still be found on the map.

However, removing roasted products is only one part of Manner's adjustments. While shutting down its roasting business, Manner is also actively expanding into third- and fourth-tier cities. Recently, many netizens have shared that Manner's new stores have already opened in their cities.

It can be seen from this that removing roasted products and closing roasting stores is not Manner's ultimate goal. The brand is carrying out adjustments to its internal business structure and directing more resources toward developing lower-tier markets.

However, recently many customers have also reported that many Manner stores have only one employee, making it completely impossible to keep up during peak hours, resulting in "excessively long wait times" for customers.

It can be seen that after the earlier "splashing coffee powder" incident, Manner entered a stage of insufficient staffing, and situations of understaffed stores have occurred from time to time. After all, Manner focuses on a small-store boutique model, and its output relies on semi-automatic coffee machines, so the time cost required to train a barista is far higher than that of brands such as Luckin and Starbucks. As a result, Manner currently has many "one-person stores"; when the barista goes to the restroom, the store becomes an "unmanned store." Some HR staff reported that Manner is currently short of employees and "cannot recruit people." Some store employees also said that many stores are seriously short of baristas, staff turnover is frequent, and some employees even need to support other stores.

Against this backdrop, Manner shifting more energy away from its unprofitable roasting business and instead investing in capturing new markets can be regarded as a strategy.

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