Wouldn't it be amazing if Pret really did come in and....

In planning the design of Kaffeine, we were, some may say…particular. I had a long, long list of what we did like and what we did not like. The architects we employed also had some very strong and great ideas. They suggested the bench style service, the espresso machine being at the back end and were adamant about the use of the up lights on our walls, but it was left to us to source our lights above the counter, the laboratory style tables and the bar stools.

We wanted to have the area down the back as a sort of movable, casual style seating area and we were  particular about the high tables and being able to sit with the back to the wall and look over the action. We eventually found, at the last minute, a very famous Swedish design company to supply the bar style seats.  The brick wall was discovered behind red painted concrete wall, so my wife (3 months pregnant) a friend Lara and I spent a whole weekend stripping it back to get the wall we have today.

Then one weekend, my wife and I were walking down past Victoria Park and we saw a small design shop, very nice, with these great lights on display. They’ll be perfect above the counter, we thought. They are called Caravaggios and at £300 or so each, were a big purchase, but we went ahead with it and had them installed. They have proven to be very popular, we get people asking all the time about them. Here is an example….

Just the other day, we went to a Pret store in Kensington and found they had these…..(as well as a brick wall)

Of course it could be a complete coincidence, but, what if Mr. Pret really had been into our store and seen these lights and gone, ‘let’s get them in’.

If that was true, isn’t it incredible to think how a tiny, small splash in a big, big pond can create ripples that go on and on and on. How little influences are taken and used in other places. Of course I took a whole lot of inspiration and ideas from other places too, but to, let’s assume, have a multi national, multi millionaire company come into your independent store and directly copy one of your design features, well that would be pretty amazing.

Then again, I could just be making all this up…..

Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
66 Great Titchfield st.
15 Eastcastle st.