Coffee shop in Hanoi spends 250 million on Christmas decorations to serve "virtual life" customers
Báo Dân trí•20/11/2024
(Dan Tri) - Customers flock to a coffee shop in Hanoi to take photos of the Christmas atmosphere from morning to night, however the shop owner said "having a lot of customers does not mean making a profit".
Since early October, a coffee shop in Duong Noi urban area (Ha Dong, Hanoi) has completed its early Christmas decorations, the two-story space of the shop is decorated with brilliant miniature scenes in the two colors of red and green of Christmas. Wishing to bring European Christmas to Hanoi, the owner invested in two artificial snow machines placed in outdoor shooting corners. In addition, there are nearly 30 large and small Christmas trees, various flashing lights, fireplaces, reindeer and many other Christmas accessories decorated.
15 miniature landscapes, divided into different areas, arranged from the garden to the first and second floors of the restaurant. Each miniature landscape is designed in its own style such as: Pine forest, living room fireplace, bed... According to Ms. Nguyen Bao Ngan (28 years old, owner), the cost of buying decorations alone was nearly 250 million VND. "We reused many items used last year, decorated ourselves instead of spending more money on hiring outside designers. However, the area of the shop is large so the cost is still high," Ms. Ngan said.
To optimize the investment, the shop completed Christmas decorations in October, nearly 3 months before Christmas, to extend the time for customers to come take photos and check in. After that, the shop owner will dismantle and decorate for Lunar New Year . On weekends, this cafe is packed with customers like a photo complex. Many groups of customers drag suitcases of makeup, some bring 2-3 outfits to change. Nhat Linh (18 years old, living in Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) - a customer of the shop - said: "I came here at 9am, put on makeup, changed clothes and took photos continuously until after 3pm and still didn't have time to stop for lunch." Similarly, Ngoc Anh (red dress, 21 years old) shared that the purpose of coming to the shop was not to sit and drink coffee but to take beautiful Christmas photos to post on social networks. Anh changed into 2 dresses and took photos of almost all the "virtual living" angles in the shop. According to the owner, the number of customers has increased by more than 30% since the shop finished decorating for Christmas. Many young people come to take pictures and check in from morning until closing time. Customers often come in groups of two or more, bringing their own assistants, makeup artists, and photographers.
The "virtual living" corners help attract more new customers to the shop, but the time groups of customers stay in the shop is also quite long. Therefore, according to the shop owner, the revenue is "nothing" compared to the cost of decorating the shop. This is also an ideal place for couples to record warm moments this Christmas season.
![[Photo] Binh Trieu 1 Bridge has been completed, raised by 1.1m, and will open to traffic at the end of November.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/10/2/a6549e2a3b5848a1ba76a1ded6141fae)
Comment (0)