The Future of Espoir Cafés: Balancing Human Resources and Marketing

Description

The Future of Espoir Cafés: Balancing Human Resources and Marketing: Abstract

« L’Autonome » is a cooperative invested with the mission of providing much-needed help to family caregivers to the elderly. It manages an assistance centre in Sherbrooke (Quebec), the Maison de soutien aux aidants naturels (MSAN) (Support Centre for Family Caregivers), where family caregivers have access to a variety of services including psychological support, food aid and a volunteer accompaniment service.

Autonome partly finances the MSAN’s activities using profits from its Espoir Cafés division made up of five coffee shops. In addition to their commitment to building strong brand equity and maintaining constant growth, the coffee shops also have a strong educational aim; to build awareness of the cause of family caregivers. Until recently, the division has had its fair share of success. However, the level of profitability has been disappointing since 2008, and the preliminary financial results for 2009 have the management team worried.

Additional information

Also available in French.

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