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| Chin Kyo-hwa, right, and Lee Chang-hoon, co-CEOs of That Coffee Roasters, pose in front of their store in Sinchon, western Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of That Coffee Roasters |
By Lee Min-hyung
Co-CEOs of That Coffee Roasters have shared their goal of launching a franchise coffee brand in the near future with a view to extending its presence across Seoul.
They are Chin Kyo-hwa and Lee Chang-hoon who dreamed of doing business together when they were teenagers. They took different career paths until they were in their mid-20s.
Chin, 30, worked as a manager at a few clothing stores before launching the small coffee shop with Lee in Sinchon, western Seoul, in 2017.
"We did not plan to open a coffee store from the beginning," Chin said in an interview, Wednesday.
"We sold bags and clothes in 2014 as street vendors, but the business was a total failure," he said. They then discussed day and night what they had to do, and agreed to open a coffee shop in 2015.
This was because Lee had a keen interest in coffee and Chin wanted to do something related with sales.
At first, the business was making meager profits for them to share.
"For the first few months after opening, we generated less than one million won ($885) in monthly revenues," he said.
The coffee duo then came up with the idea of redecorating the interior of the store.
"In September, we reshaped the atmosphere of the coffee shop in a way to appeal more to woman customers," said Chin.
The decision was enough for the coffee shop to make a presence online.
"It took more than three years for our coffee shop to gain popularity," said Chin. The store's monthly sales more than doubled in the past two months on the back of word-of-mouth online and the new interior design.
"The store is tiny and small, but we hope to launch at least three more stores in less than five years in Seoul," said the co-CEO of the store.
The co-CEOs also run a factory in Seoul's Guro district where they roast coffee to sell to its clients.
"We sell our roasted coffee to five clients, including other cafes and a hair shop," he said.
Once the coffee business gains more traction, they also plan to rent a bigger factory to increase its roasting capacity.
