So, it's been a long time coming, but I've finally found the time to write about my experience in San Francisco this past January. Although I could talk about the million reasons why I love this gloriously colourful city, specific to this blog would obviously be my visit to the Brain Wash Cafe, a thriving laundromat/cafe/indie music venue space located in the historic Mission District of San Fran.
Walking in mid-day on a Tuesday, the cafe was packed with late brunchers like myself, filling themselves on the cafe's excellent and filling breakfast menu, while others lounge
d in the adjacent laundromat, complete with pinball machines and other such fun leisurely instalments.
Obviously I was already excited to be in a space so similar to my own imaginings, but even without my romantic view of it, I was able to clearly discern some truly great business ideas going on in this space.
The most eye catching idea was their giant sign advertising their "happy hour" for laundry do-ers. As you can see, the concept tied in the laundromat to the cafe by offering a dollar off any purchase in th
e cafe from 4-7 if you did your laundry during that time. That "happy hour" also means cheap beers in the cafe, so you can get home from work, grab your laundry, and then grab a cold one, all in one place! Brilliant!
When talking to one of the many amazing and quirky staff members about our project back here in Toronto, she said to me "the most important thing to have when running a cafe like this one is to hire someone with oversized novelty glasses" (which she just happened to be wearing herself, and which I must admit did help make her seem more interesting :P)
Although they aren't integrating the solar power angle that we'd like to include, the Brain Wash Cafe still demonstrates the success of combining cafe, community, and laundry into one convenient space, and are certainly one of our inspirations moving forward!
You can now find their second location in Montreal! Woo hoo!
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