City Girl Farm Cafe

The Courier-Journal mentioned earlier this summer that a "European-inspired" coffee shop and bakery called City Girl Farm Cafe would be opening at Shelbyville Road Plaza. I went by this afternoon (it's between Home Run Burgers and the new Quest store) and noticed that they've finished a lot of the interior work, so perhaps they'll be opening soon.

Interesting. Although "City Girl Farm Cafe" is a mouthful.

Any idea what "European-inspired" might actually translate to?

[Robin Garr]

Any idea what "European-inspired" might actually translate to?

They have french fries and Spanish rice?

They have french fries and Spanish rice?

Wouldn't that be Pomme Frites?

I went over to City Girl Farm today and discovered that it has closed for good. That's a shame; it was a nice place to get coffee or a light lunch. They always seemed to do decent business, but I'm sure the competition for a coffee shop is fierce in St. Matthews. They explained it this way on Facebook: "Unfortunately, the business did not grow quickly enough for it to be sustainable in the current economic climate. This was a very difficult decision and it saddens us that we were not able to keep going."

We also liked stopping in for a break while shopping...nice folks...sad to hear

That is sad to hear. I always thought that location was pretty tough though. I'm not a big fan of that shopping center or its depth. I think a lot of things get lost back there. Heck, I only go back there because the wife is a devotee of Joanna Fabric. Past that I rarely penetrate deeper than Feeder's Supply.

I passed by there on Saturday on the way to Menchies/Trader Joes and there were people in there. Closing just happens so fast!

You know, it would be interesting to somehow get statistics (both national and Louisville) to see the average lifespan of a restaurant, What percentage last less than a year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, etc.

My husband used to be in the coffee business both here and in New England. He said people just can't fathom how much coffee you have to sell to manage the overhead; especially in a location without a lot of foot traffic and/or no drive-thru. We too liked City Girl, but they were pretty isolated in a center with a lot of empty storefronts.

I'm sorry they didn't make it.

[Robin Garr]

... they were pretty isolated in a center with a lot of empty storefronts.

That was my take on it from the start. Nice people, good product, attractive setup, but a very, very poor location from a business sense. That's the kind of place you want to have on a strip like Frankfort or Bardstown (or the old business strips in places like Middletown or J'town) where you have foot traffic and easy neighborhood access. It just wasn't the right business for the right place, and I can't believe the lease price helped them make the numbers work.

Yes, it takes a lot of volume to break even. And "foot traffic" alone doesn't do it. What time of the day does that foot traffic occur? Most coffee shops bring in about half (or more) of their revenue during the morning rush. My shop (Ray's Monkey House) survived only 2.5 years, in a VERY rough economic climate. We had no street parking during the Bardstown Rd. rush hour system, and the one way street (Bonnycastle) was the wrong way for us, so you'd have to drive all the way around the block to make a stop. Killed our mornings. And I'll tell you, foot traffic is negligible in the morning on Bardstown Rd in that stretch at least. Boom. No morning revenue to speak of. When you should be making the highest revenue of the day. So we attempted evening revenue. Afternoons were fairly steady, but never spectacular.

A former employee of mine, and semi-coffee geek, said the City girl coffee was just ok, but it was a good place to study. I think he went there the evenings.

If I ever try the coffee biz again, I guarantee you, it will be with some kind of walk-up or drive thru concept.I I'm still roasting at home, but the fruits of my labor go straight to me and a few lucky co-workers at my teaching gig. (presently teaching at U of L summers- and Ivy Tech - full time)

Spending my time at little league games these days, raising three awesome little boys! Berlin in December!

Cheers,