Forum - View topicNEWS: Maid Café in Canada Shuts Down
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pedrowear
 Posts: 7 |
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I did a report for CBC Radio on the iMaid about 4 months ago, and it seemed to be going strong.
http://iamotaku.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/me-on-q-on-maid-cafes/ I found out, however, that the concept had to be modified (because it's Chinese run in Canada) so perhaps it was too "maid cafe" for some, and not "maid cafe" enough for others. |
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TheVok
Posts: 613 Location: North York, Ontario, Canada |
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Uh, you don't know that area very well, do you? Pacific Mall is the largest Chinese shopping centre in all of North America. Walk in and you'll swear you're in Hong Kong. Definitely not a Japanese area, but Chinese? Absolutely. |
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jigoku_hime
 Posts: 78 Location: twinkle twinkle little stars... |
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woah...what a skimpy outfit
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16961 |
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They might be our equivalent but the attitudes are a big difference lol. Try talking to a cocktail waitress like ya would a maid in a maid cafe and you'll see. I however don't think they're out of place in the "new world." Plus what does new world mean anyway? Are you talking about America and Canada only or more then that? In America I think they would do very well, depending on location. Not in your average city mind you but in more liberal ones I can see them working. If Vegas doesn't have one already I'd say one would work there really well. I mean this is the city where you can get a loan and buy a car at 3am. Some larger cities that are more culturally diverse I think could sustain a maid cafe' here. I'm not saying if that's good or not, just that i think it could work. However the whole front being nothing but glass windows would be something to change. That was not a smart idea. One window maybe but the entire front? No. |
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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Grrr, I'm familiar with the area. A business like that isn't going to thrive off just local business, they need to have something to attract more clients and they took every measure to seemingly do the opposite. The problem with a strictly ethnic area is that it's also going to have a lot of competition that is also catering to that crowd. You also failed to really even account for the information in the text that you quoted. It may be a large chinese area in a western culture, but that doesn't mean a damn thing in economics. It's a subculture that has evolved somewhat separately in another region amidst another culture. Not to mention since the restaurant has actually failed that would seemingly imply that there is in fact some truth to the concept as well. So spare me the "No, you're wrong" arguments, that brings nothing to the table. I went to school for economics, I'm pretty familiar with how marketing and cultural marketing works. |
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posterior_praiser
 Posts: 296 |
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I never liked the idea of maid cafes in the first place, so i wont mourn it's loss. Its an interesting concept to try and bring here, but I guess the market just wasnt there.
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genman
Posts: 40 |
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My wife and I are into going to these places, she more than I actually. We even went to the "Maid Cafe" that was shut down in Bangkok, Thailand recently, though we soon found out it wasn't really a cafe but some tables stuffed in an anime store. I pointed this place out to her and we thought it was unfortunately not in Vancouver, Canada instead, which would be in driving range of us.
As for why this place closed: It's a fact that most restaurants barely break even. In economics, the rule is businesses in established markets are all basically low-margin. Or, "highly efficient" as they call it positively. Who hasn't seen a favorite restaurant of theirs suddenly go under? Quite a number of famous franchise operations in Seattle have called it quits it seems, so restaurants are not a sure thing. Obviously they would have survived if the rent was low enough ... As it was, they might have done better as more of an Izakaya serving alcoholic beverages and snacks, rather than low-margin food items. Think Hooters with an Asian twist. Though, I guess it wouldn't seem Akihabara-maid-cafe-ish. Or maybe the better approach would have been create a seemingly regular restaurant with just the waitresses dressed and acting a little different. Then, you'd probably get regular families and business men on lunch, who might not be fully aware of the maid aspect but also you'd pick up the otaku crowd who were into it. |
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Wing_Goddess
 Posts: 75 |
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It was a good site at first, but the food was just really bad -__-;
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Nermal
 Posts: 223 Location: I was made to hit in America |
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At least they're young. I cringe when I go to Vegas and see some of those chronologically-gifted cocktail waitresses. Interesting concept; too bad it didn't last. I'm sure we'll see another similar one sometime in the near future. |
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Emichan
 Posts: 83 Location: SF Bay Area |
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Too bad about the maid cafe. It sounds like they were trying to be a bit more upscale than your typical Akiba maid cafe (which is cheap curtains, folding tables and bad food
  I went to the Swallowtail butler cafe in Ikebukuro a couple of weeks ago, and it was amazing. Talk about a luxury experience! I wish something like that could survive here 
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jdnation
Posts: 2085 |
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There was a maid cafe in Toronto??? And near Pacific mall too??? Man if I'd have know I'd have grabbed a buddy and gone there just for novelty's sake! I'll try anything out once... and I'm sure there's nothing indecent about it, just the gimmick of cute asian girls in maid outfits... no big surprise given that North America has it's own franchise like that called Hooters! But I'd take a maid cafe over that any day. We have no right to poke fun at the Japanese
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