First Café Roxy?

Who will be the first Café Roxy? Many bars and eateries have shown films for some time, so I don't mean them. Who will be the first to exhibit a Roxy poster a week ahead, then show the Roxy Sampler, then report back how it went? Here are two ambitious possibilities who are expanding their cafés with attached screening rooms.

First is Susan Bosin's Revue Cafe in Fresno, CA, pictured here. "For those who prefer individuality over Starbucks, this very cute cafe is done up with huge vintage posters, unobtrusive lacy white curtains, and maroon walls with glossy black ceiling and trim. Use the traditional black cafe tables with two chairs per table, or sit along the booth against the far wall. There are small tables outside as well. Nice for sipping a hot tea or cafe mocha -- or iced mochas and smoothies in the summer -- while watching the alterna-crowds and other foot traffic pass by. Small selection of desserts, pastries, bagels and cookies. Students like to do their homework here."

Susan rented an adjoining room because the space was available and inexpensive (due to the recession). She is planning to start movies in June and made these comments on May 17:

"I can't wait to take a poster to kinkos and get it enlarged for our windows...and small ones for hand-outs. I KNOW they will be the primary advertising tool....THEY'RE FANTASTIC!!!"

"Its 106 degrees today so I couldn't get anyone to work in the attic to install the projector which arrived from BenQ on Thursday. I got the SP831...I think it is 4000 lumens so we can show even in a lit room if we want....Daytime TV, etc. The BenQ site has REFURBISHED units from their TRADE-UP program at about a third the cost....I'll let you know if its a good thing, in case anyone asks you about projectors."

The other venue about to debut Café Roxy shows is the Hideout Coffee House in Austin, TX: "The Hideout, home of both coffee AND comedy, is a welcome, new addition to the hub surrounding Congress and 6th St. When you first walk in to this newly renovated historic building, you are greeted by the soothing and familiar scents of coffee, very strong coffee. The coffee house part of this establishment dominates the front scene downstairs, with hardwood floors, high ceilings, and a long, meandering hallway finally giving way to the dark shadows of the theater in the back."

Greg Nelson reports: "I can't tell you how much I'm diggin' your enthusiasm. But you need to give us some time on getting things cleaned up on our side. Give us a month. We're trying to clean-up the theater, paint, carpet, seat repairs, new hardware, establish our advertising, etc. In other words, things are kind of hectic on our side (from financing to painting to scheduling) and we want to keep your creative productions on our 'let's do' list."

Two promising venues. Who will debut Roxy film shows first?

Sizzle. Fizzle.

My ad in Restaurant Report, shown here on the left, has come and gone with little impact on the dining world. I won't say I got NO requests for the free sampler DVD. Let's say somewhat less than I expected, since it was emailed to 7,000 restaurants, and I didn't expect too much. It only proves what I already knew -- that it takes awhile for a new idea to get looked at. It's also hard to give away anything free. I should have made it easier by putting on my home page: "Click here to receive a free DVD Sampler Show." I thought of that just now, which is too late for the current ad whose shelf life was two days, but I will go and add it now.

No ad is wasted. The ad may be the first glimpse some future customers got of the name "Café Roxy" and the idea behind it. Maybe next time they see the name or spot an ad they will go to the website, read enough to catch the idea and ask for a free sample DVD.

In my opinion the email ad looks very good, and is exactly how I wanted it. Jaime Oikle at Restaurant Report was very helpful in finalizing my changes. Maybe I can get Jaime to write an article on Café Roxy someday, but not until an actual successful program is in full swing in some café.

That is coming very soon.

Www.caferoxy.com.