I spent yesterday in London and was musing about the ease of getting good coffee and the lack of a good place to have tea.
It made me think about the old Lyon’s Tea Houses and how popular they were.At one time they were Europe’s largest chain of restaurants if you took into account the Corner Houses that they operated.These were literally on the corner of major streets and basically the whole building was given over to different restaurants.Plenty of choice in one building,genius.
The Lyon’s Tea Houses did so well because like McDonald’s they offered a formula that was replicated in all outlets.You knew what you were going to get before you got there…
- Good food
- Reasonable prices
- Limited, but adequate choice
- Good service from trained staff
Lyon’s in fact owned the Wimpy Bar concept that was first launched in London in 1954, miles ahead of McDonald’s,so its no surprise that the tea houses were such a success.
Could these tea house make a return I wonder? Could a simple formula based on consistency of service and product be possible in the 21st century?
It’s not rocket science but still it looks like many companies can’t do a Lyon’s Tea House to this day.
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