I wrote earlier about how Perth's cafes, restaurants and bars have taken to social media with more gusto than any other business sector. Here's an example of how they are using these sites for promotion: 

Foam Coffee Bar in Leederville recently launched a promotion employing the hashtag #foamroam. To take part you need to buy a cup of takeaway coffee from the store, then post a photo of it in some interesting location, including the above mentioned hashtag. The winning entry is rewarded with free coffee for a year.

I think it has good elements. Obviously there's the fact that it encourages people to take part, and buying a cup is a requirement. So apart from anything else it might actually bring in a few extra customers who wouldn't have heard about the venue any other way. Also, it's got its own memorable hashtag. This might take on a bit of life of its own. And it's got a visual component. As any social media addict knows, appealing photos and images are inherently shareable. 

It's a good way of featuring their distinctive cups as well. Maybe they got a lot of positive feedback from customers about them, which is why they're a central part of the campaign? 

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how it goes. If I'm in the area I may well buy a cup and take part myself ... 

One of my favourite places to pick up a coffee in Fremantle was the Gloria Jeans just near Kings Square. I've always liked that chain because the coffee is really good and reasonably priced. And this particular branch was really well run and had a nice, warm atmosphere. The woman who ran it was always kind and welcoming and so were the staff.

Anyway, I hadn't been in the area for a while and I dropped by a week or so ago. I was shocked to see the place totally gutted. At first I thought they were doing some major renovations. I recognized one of the staff who was taking something from the empty store and asked about what had happened. She told me it had completely closed and that was it!

I wasn't the only person who was shocked at this development. The cafe's closing was actually a front page story in the next edition of the Fremantle Herald.

Seems the dwindling foot traffic and increasing anti-social behaviour in the area slowly eroded the outlet's profits until the only solution was to leave. And this wasn't the only cafe to suffer this fate. The nearby Mistral Cafe -- which was also a nice place for a coffee and a cheap feed -- also went belly up. 

Really quite sad. But it does show how a local business can be subject to powerful economic forces beyond its control.