ABOUT
Opening: 2013
Address: 8428 Melrose Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90069
Website: https://alfred.la/
Owner/ Developer: Josh Zad
Designer: Josh Zad, Blanda Eggenschwiler, various local artists
CONCEPT
Alfred’s Coffee and Tea shops consistently show up on all lists of Most Instagrammable Coffee Shops In LA. In his own words, Josh “basically coined the word instagrammable”.
With years of experience in commercial real estate, and no experience in the food and beverage industry, Josh had the vision to create a cool coffee shop he would love to hang out at and where a consistent and memorable customer experience is the main goal.
The fashionable interior, tag-lines like “Tea yes, you maybe” and stylish merchandise are designed to make customers smile, take pictures and share them with their social media followers.
All take-away items and packaged retail products are branded and designed in the Alfred colors and taglines.
The menu in Alfred’s Coffee features Portland-based Stumptown coffee favorites, a traditional matcha latte as well as their famous Chagaccino.
Alfred’s is a Los Angeles based independent coffee and tea house chain, owned and operated by Josh Zad. The Alfred’s Teahouse concept has been expanded into Japan with four stores that sell a variety of milk teas, all with the option of adding boba pearls, iced teas and sweet snacks.
TREND
Instagram – Unique products – Experience driven
# butfirstcoffee
There is no industry towards which Instagram is better geared than Restaurants. Social media posts by real customers are the most authentic, successful and most importantly, free marketing for restaurants. 30% of Instagram users would avoid a restaurant if its Instagram presence is not good. Customers often take great pictures of your food and interior and share it to an even wider audience. Restaurants have started to take advantage of that multiplying effect and give them something worth taking a picture of.
There is currently an oversaturation of the market with too many independent coffee shop chains that sell the same products as Starbucks for the same high price as Starbucks. The consumer has become bored with places that advertise a Flat White as a specialty coffee. Alfred’s drink menu with its unique flavor profiles entered the market as an anti-trend to boring Starbucks copies and offers guests an experience they get exclusively at Alfred’s.
Pink Drink: a proprietary blend of strawberry, pomegranate, beetroot, vanilla, cinnamon, and milk – the ultimate instagrammable treat.
Chagaccino: Chaga, the superhero of the mushroom world, is blended with vanilla, cacao, cinnamon, monkfruit, and topped with espresso and milk.
Oat Cappuccino: Classic espresso and microfoam, with a creamy, oaty twist.
DESIGN
The design and layout for all stores has been conceptualized from start to finish by Josh himself and are a constant work in progress.
Each location is designed deliberately and individually with the contribution of local Los Angeles artists. The uniquely illustrated walls, the hand-painted wallpapers by Swiss graphic designer Blanda Eggenschwiler and the funny taglines scream to be posted on Instagram.