FamilyMart’s ultra-innovative hybrid store: new laundry café opens

By MOOK Scenic Spots House, compiled and reported
 
In recent years, convenience stores have continued to evolve. FamilyMart has previously launched other hybrid store formats in collaboration with brands such as Tianhe Fresh, bb.q CHICKEN Korean fried chicken, Da Shu Pharmacy, and Taishin Bank. Then the Let’s Café flagship store, which opened last December, and the self-service laundry hybrid store, which debuted on the 23rd, offer 24-hour pour-over coffee and laundry services. By forming alliances with different business types, they’re expanding their store formats to meet various needs.

The Let’s Café flagship store is located in a lane off Ren’ai Circle in Taipei’s Eastern District. It uses UCC’s globally patented “foam coffee machine” to create delicate foam on top of iced coffee, making it smoother and richer. The store also features a “coffee master” professional machine worth millions of NT dollars, said to brew coffee with a taste comparable to that of hand-poured coffee.

The café is furnished with sofas, high-top tables, and large communal tables, offering a total of 48 seats. It provides free Wi-Fi and power outlets. Decorated in the popular “Mondrian” style inspired by period dramas, it uses a color palette of low-saturation gray, white, and navy blue to enhance the space’s texture and naturally exude an elegant and tranquil atmosphere.

In addition to coffee, the café also offers twelve light meals that can be heated using a microwave convection oven. These include beef cheese croissants, double cheese ham mashed potato ciabattas, canelés, matcha crème brûlée, and New York cheesecake. The most expensive item is just 70 NT dollars, keeping prices affordable while still offering the convenience of a typical convenience store.

FamilyMart’s first-ever “self-service laundry hybrid store” is located at the Sanchong Jiyyong branch in New Taipei City. The self-service laundry area covers about 9 ping (approximately 29.7 square meters) and is equipped with five wash-dry-fold machines and two double-tier dryers from Japan’s TOSEI. The store utilizes IoT devices connected to a mobile app, allowing customers to check for available machines via their phones before heading out, helping them avoid waiting unnecessarily.