LOCAL CAFÉ chain Bo’s Coffee saw higher sales in two of its stores during the lockdown even as majority of its stores operated at 30% of their pre-lockdown sales.
“There will be two outliers, two stores that went beyond 100% and 120% from pre-COVID,” Bo’s Coffee Chief Executive Officer Steve D. Benitez said in a webinar with the Philippine Franchise Association on Thursday.
“That was a big surprise to me and my team as well. But I think the most common reason behind that is what class of market does that mall cater to,” he added.
He said the A and B markets would stay home and avoid the malls while the other markets would continue to go out “and that’s because of the circumstances.”
Bo’s Coffee began to gradually reopen its shops for delivery ad pickup in early May. The company has more than 100 branches.
Mr. Benitez said the company plans to “reimagine” its brand to make it more available to more people despite the closed shops, including delivery services.
“Now, you can find Bo’s Coffee in Mini Stops, soon hopefully in 7-Elevens because we now bottle our coffee,” he said.
The company has been reorganizing its employment structure, placing its audit team in the procurement team while there are fewer stores to audit. Some baristas have been moved to delivery services.
Bo’s Coffee gave out full salaries for March and April as well as allowances, but eventually cut some jobs.
Mr. Benitez added that the company has been managing its resources by controlling its cash outflow.
“We also had to preserve out assets because we’re looking forward to reopening as soon as possible and we have to make sure that our assets are in order. First, we decided not to have any capex (capital expenditure) spend. All capex expansion this year has been suspended. And we also had to manage our inventory,” he said.
“One of the things we did is we donated most of these food to the frontliners,” he added. — Jenina P. Ibañez
