When Christina James started thinking about opening a coffee shop, she decided not to focus on finding a traditional standalone location. Instead, she wanted to open a cafe in a way that made sense financially—renting and remodeling a brand-new space just wasn’t in her budget.
At the time, she was a cyclist riding with the racing team at Dallas Bike Works in Texas. James decided to pitch the idea—opening a cafe inside the bike store—to the shop’s owner. She told him about Cultivar Coffee Roasting Co.’s retail shop in Dallas, located inside Goodfriend Package, a neighborhood deli.
James had previously worked at Cultivar. “That was what originally got me thinking about the idea of fusing with other businesses,” she says.
Coffee shops have long shared space with other retail businesses, most notably bookstores. In recent years, the model has expanded beyond that familiar pairing. Cafes now operate inside bike stores, skate shops, climbing gyms, vintage markets, and local clothing stores, among other retail spaces.
In recent years, in-house cafes have also become more common inside larger retail brands, as companies look for ways to differentiate themselves and draw shoppers into physical spaces.
At the same time, opening a standalone cafe has also become more difficult. Rising rents and higher build-out costs have pushed founders to rethink how—and where—they operate. For some coffee shop owners, shared retail spaces offer a way to launch and grow without taking on the risk of a full standalone lease.
A Business Inside a Business
Once James got Dallas Bike Works’ owner on board, she opened Pull Through Coffee Bar in February 2023 at the back of the shop, with a small bar and a few seats inside, along with a walk-up window and patio seating outside.
Instead of signing a traditional commercial lease, James’ rent is determined by the amount of space the cafe uses. “We base rent off square footage,” she says. “I’m only using a quarter of the space, so I’m only paying a quarter of what their initial rent is.”
That setup benefits both businesses. The bike shop offsets part of its overhead, while the cafe avoids paying for space it doesn’t need. Utilities and maintenance costs are also shared. “They save 25% of rent and half of utilities,” James says.
For coffee shop owners, that kind of partnership can make opening far more feasible than committing to a full commercial footprint. Rather than absorbing the entire cost of rent, electricity, and upkeep, operators can start within an existing business and scale more deliberately. “It was a great way to begin a business,” James says.
The way customers engage with the initial retail space also changes once a cafe opens inside. At Dallas Bike Works, many customers come in to drop off bikes to be serviced, then have to figure out what to do as they wait. Having a coffee shop on site changes that.
“If it is a quick fix, it can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 40 minutes,” James says. “Instead of having to leave and then come back and pick it up, they can stay inside the shop.”
With coffee available, customers often settle in rather than step out. “They can get on our Wi-Fi, bring out their laptop, and actually utilize that time instead of wasting 40 minutes to an hour waiting on their bike,” she adds.
From Entry Point to Expansion
Over time, the overlap between the two businesses has also shaped who uses the space. Some customers come in for coffee with no prior connection to cycling, while others arrive for bike service and become regulars at the cafe. “We’ve had a lot of customers who weren’t into bikes at all,” James says. “By the fifth time they come in, they’re surrounded by them, and eventually they start looking [at bicycles].”
That exposure can turn into participation. “We’ve had customers end up buying a bike, joining our group rides, and becoming part of the community,” she adds.
Beyond the shop itself, James sees the connection between bikes and coffee play out across the city. “A lot of cycling groups will put on coffee rides,” she says. “It’ll be an all-day thing where they hit five different coffee shops.”
Inside Dallas Bike Works, that same overlap happens on a smaller scale throughout the day. Customers wait on repairs, settle in with a drink, and gradually become regulars. Over time, the cafe becomes part of how the space functions, not just a tacked-on amenity.
Now, as Pull Through Coffee Bar has grown busier, James is beginning to think about what expansion could look like. “My only problem that I’m running into now is that we’re starting to get so busy that I now need more space,” she says.
But she credits the shared setup with giving her the financial flexibility to look ahead. “To even be able to get the opportunity to look at expansion and opening up a second location—there’s no way I would’ve been able to do that had I opened up a place and been charged twice the amount,” she says.
By sharing space and overhead, she’s been able to build demand before committing most of her revenue to rent and fixed costs. Now, she says she’s in a position to seriously consider opening a second location, even as she’s still figuring out what the next step might look like.
A Long-Running Retail Partnership
Shared retail spaces can also be a long-term setup. For nearly two decades, Cafe Zing operated inside Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“Our cafe went into Porter Square Books a year after the bookstore first opened,” says Nathan Wilber, who manages Cafe Zing. “This October was our 20-year anniversary.”
For much of that time, the cafe and bookstore functioned as a single, integrated space. Customers could browse books with their lattes or sit at bar-style seating near the front windows. “What we liked about being inside the bookstore is that it didn’t feel like two separate operations,” Wilber says. “It felt like one big space for everybody.”
That setup shaped how customers used the cafe and how the business fit into the neighborhood. When the bookstore hosted events, Cafe Zing stayed open to serve customers attending readings and gatherings. “They had readings pretty much every night, and we’d serve coffee while people came to hear an author,” Wilber says.
Over time, the partnership shaped how the two businesses operated together. “We built a lot of great relationships with people who worked at the bookstore,” he says. “It was a really nice dynamic, two businesses working together.”
Last year, Porter Square Books moved to a new location, while Cafe Zing remained in the shopping plaza. In the meantime, the former bookstore space has been used by a vintage marketplace as a temporary pop-up. As the property is reconfigured into separate storefronts, Cafe Zing is preparing to operate as a standalone coffee shop.
Operating inside another business can come with practical considerations, Wilber cautions. “One thing we always struggled with was how little space we had,” he says. “When you’re working inside another business that also needs a lot of storage, it’s always a challenge.”
Once the property is reconfigured, Cafe Zing will occupy one side as its own cafe. The change will give the business more room to shape how customers use the space, and opens the door to offerings that were not previously possible.
Cafe Zing hopes to host more events and expand beyond its current menu, Wilber says, including plans for a beer and wine license and a larger food program. “One big thing that we want to focus on is doing events,” he says. “That’s something we weren’t really able to do because we didn’t have the space.”
For coffee shop owners navigating rising rents and high build-out costs, shared retail spaces can offer a practical way to get started. “I do feel like it’s a good way to do business, especially with rent going up in so many places,” James of Pull Through says. “If we put more out there that it’s a possibility, it opens up conversations with business owners and lets them see what they could gain from it.”
