Woo Ji-yeon has opened her second Caphe Cozy at Boxquare. Woo wishes to popularize the café’s signature drink, “coconut coffee smoothie.” Photo provided by Caphe Cozy.

Caphe Cozy, a Vietnam-themed café, opened its second café at Boxquare after the one in Ewha 52nd street was launched in last year. This popular café is run by none other than a fellow Ewha student: Woo Ji-yeon, a junior majoring in business.

Woo came up with Caphe Cozy’s signature drink, coconut coffee smoothie, rather coincidentally. After tasting coconut coffee during her trip to Vietnam, she made a coconut coffee smoothie of her own style and sold it at a booth during the school festival. As her drink had gained great popularity, she decided to jump into business right away.

“Last year, I started with the goal of opening three cafés,” Woo said. “I thought that opening the second Caphe Cozy at Boxquare was a good opportunity to take a step closer to my goal.”

Woo added that the main reason behind settling the second café at Boxquare was to resolve the problems she had with her first café.

“Even though we had tried our best to maximize productivity, customers still ended up waiting in line in the first café,” Woo said. “Also, I opened the first café in a rush, so there wasn’t really a particular concept. So, with the second café, I tried to make it more themed and accessible.”

She feels that Caphe Cozy has begun to find its own identity after opening the second café.

“Not a lot of people notice the difference, but I am trying out small but new ways to create a theme for the café,” Woo said. “For example, we came up with a new design for the cup-holder and finalized the logo of the café. We also made an Instagram account so that we can advertise new menus. From this process, we have gradually developed our café’s true colors.”

Woo believes that she has matured after opening Caphe Cozy’s second store.

“With the first café, I didn’t have to go check on what was happening everyday, ” Woo admitted. “However, now that I must deal with two stores, I realized that I had to be more responsible and focused on the business to keep it going. So I took a semester off to give my fullest attention to both stores.”

As Woo had begun her own business at a young age, she felt that there are more merits of this aspect.

“I was able to learn and gain more business-related skills, earlier than most of my peers, because I had to meet a lot of people related to the business,” Woo stated. “As I am still young and therefore have nothing much to lose, it is less frightening to start something new.”

Woo believes it is important for students to try out what they are truly passionate about.

“It’s nothing really,” Woo commented. “Although a business may seem intimidating at first, once you start it, you’ll realize that it’s not that big of a deal. What’s important is that you try what you want to do, and you will learn a great deal from your mistakes.”

She added that what she has learned in Ewha helped her during her journey of running cafés.

“I think that I was able to come this far because Ewha taught me that women can be independent and active, so I want to thank everyone who has encouraged me.” 

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지