Open a self-service coffee shop in Dortmund

Coffee to go in Dortmund: who buys on the move

In the Ruhr area the cities lie close together, and many people live in one and work in another. They commute to Dortmund by regional train and S-Bahn, and within the city they travel from the districts into the centre by Stadtbahn and bus. They buy their coffee on the way: on the platform, at the stop, in the passage to the next line. These are exactly the people a self-service coffee shop earns from. They do not sit down: they pick up the cup in a minute and walk on.

The most important hub is Dortmund Hauptbahnhof with the bus station right next to it. The Stadtbahn runs under the city centre, and at stops such as Stadtgarten and Reinoldikirche many people change. Outside the centre people change between train, Stadtbahn and bus at stations such as Dortmund-Hörde, Dortmund-Dorstfeld or Dortmund-Mengede.

The second group works in offices. In the city centre inside the Wall ring road there are offices and public authorities, the Harenberg City-Center stands by the Hauptbahnhof, and next to TU Dortmund research institutes and IT companies work in the Technologiepark. Office workers grab a coffee on the way in the morning and another one after lunch.

The third group studies. TU Dortmund, Fachhochschule Dortmund with its sites on Emil-Figge-Straße and Max-Ophüls-Platz, International School of Management, IU Campus Dortmund: between lectures, students buy coffee quickly and take it into the next class. During the semester break there are fewer students, and that belongs in the sales plan for a location on campus.

Which coffee shop formats we install in Dortmund

The most common choice is the indoor coffee shop, turnkey from €6 425. It stands in a shopping mall, an office building, a university, a hospital or the checkout area of a supermarket. Winter does not hurt this location, because its customers are already inside.

The outdoor coffee shop (from €10 709) works round the clock in any weather, has a vandal-resistant body and needs no premises. It stands at petrol stations, at stops or in front of a REWE in a residential area. You agree the spot with the owner of the space, for example the supermarket the kiosk will stand next to.

Then there is cold-drink: iced coffee, shakes and cold drinks for the summer. This format pays off where lots of people are outdoors in summer, for example at Fredenbaumpark or Revierpark Wischlingen. We quote the price on request.

We do not fix the format in advance. First we look at the address and how people move there, then we decide what goes there. If you would like to sell something other than coffee, we will build a different vending machine turnkey: for ice cream, candyfloss, pizza or ready meals.

Where to put a coffee shop in Dortmund

The map above shows places in Dortmund that lots of people pass every day: stops, stations, supermarkets, office buildings, hospitals and universities. Tap your district and see what is nearby. Below are the places where we start the search in Dortmund.

Have you already found a free spot in the city centre or at the market square in your district? Send us the address, and we will calculate the income for that exact site free of charge. If you do not have an address yet, we will do the search: we check the footfall, negotiate with the landlord and show you several options. You pay for the search only after you sign the lease with the landlord, and only if you like the site.

How much a self-service coffee shop in Dortmund costs

A turnkey indoor coffee shop costs from €6 425 incl. VAT. Outdoor coffee shop: from €10 709. Cold-drink: price on request. Installation anywhere in Germany is charged separately from the price of the coffee shop.

The basic set includes a Kavil-branded kiosk with LED lighting, a Saeco or Jetinno coffee machine, a terminal for card and smartphone payments, Kavil brand design and telemetry. The final price depends mainly on the coffee machine model, and also on the options and the installation. Banknote and coin acceptors and a custom design can be added separately.

You pay in two parts, and only after signing the contract, which sets out the coffee machine model, the equipment, the amount and the deadlines. You make the prepayment after signing and pay the rest at installation. After that, each month you pay rent, taxes and the bank fee for card payments, and you buy ingredients and cups. You do not hand us any percentage of your sales.

What matters in Dortmund

Dortmund is made up of districts with centres of their own. Hörde, Brackel, Huckarde and Mengede each have a weekly market, shops and their own rail or Stadtbahn connection, and many people go about their daily lives there without travelling into the city centre. So a location in the centre of a district can do well even though it is far from the Hauptbahnhof, and the rent there is usually lower than in the city centre.

On match days the Dortmund Signal-Iduna-Park station and the routes to the stadium are extremely busy. For a location, this is an extra, not a foundation: matches happen only on certain days, and in between the routes there are quiet. That is why we base the income calculation on an ordinary working day, and the match days are a bonus.

In the Ruhr area the corner kiosk (Trinkhalle) is part of everyday life, and many people are used to picking something up in passing. A self-service coffee shop complements it well: it adds fresh coffee to what is on offer and keeps working when the kiosk is closed. The calculation, which takes into account the footfall, the drink price, the equipment and the rent of that exact site, shows which option works out for your address.

What you need to launch

You need no business experience. We open turnkey coffee shops even for people who have never run a business: we train you from scratch, and from the day the contract is signed you have a personal manager. We help you with the bank account and the payment terminal step by step.

It all starts with a conversation. You leave your number, we call back, calculate the income for the site you have chosen in Dortmund, put together the equipment package and show you the inside of the coffee shop on Zoom. This stage moves at your pace. You read the contract before you pay, and the countdown starts with the prepayment: it takes up to 30 days from then to the first cup. In that time we build the coffee shop in our own workshop, look for a site if you ask us to, and then deliver, install and set up the coffee shop.

Looking after the location itself takes about 15 minutes once every two or three days: topping up ingredients and collecting the takings. You can easily combine this with your main job. You see sales and stock levels on your smartphone, so you know when it is time to go to the location.

How much Kavil partners earn

Taras has a network of 3 locations in retail areas and busy walkways. After 5 months of operation it brought him more than €1 770 of net profit a month. Bohdan has 1 indoor location by an entrance: 80 drinks a day and more than €880 a month after 6 months. Vladyslav has 2 indoor locations with steady footfall: more than €1 480 of net profit a month after 5 months.

Kavil partners’ figures (December 2024), converted to euros. Results vary from location to location: these are examples, not a guarantee. Coffee prices, rents and costs depend on the site, so we do not carry these figures over directly. We calculate the income for your address in Dortmund separately and free of charge.

Kavil franchise in Dortmund: what you get

You buy the equipment, and the business is entirely yours: 0 royalties, so no monthly share of your sales goes to us. We roast our own coffee, and you buy our beans 25% cheaper than from competitors. We build the coffee shops in our own workshop, buy Saeco and Jetinno coffee machines directly, with no dealer markup, and you get beans, ingredients and cups from us with no middlemen. Thanks to telemetry, you see sales and stock levels on your smartphone every day.

The equipment comes with a warranty, and we write its term into the contract. If sales drop, we go through the figures together, and if the site turns out to be weak, we plan a move. If you change your mind or the location does not work out, we will buy back the equipment at 60% of its value; the buyback terms are in the contract. Would you like several coffee shops in Dortmund at once? Ask about our wholesale offer: from 2 to 10 locations.

FAQ: a self-service coffee shop in Dortmund