Sullivan Street Bakery in Shanghai, China is the latest business to open in China’s new city, where the cost of living has been rising.
Sulligan Street’s founder, Sullian Zhang, says the business is not just about the money.
“We want to give the opportunity to people to live their lives free of poverty,” she says.
Suillivan Street’s cafe is a small cafe with a small menu.
Its owner, Li Guoqiang, says she started her business in 2005 and opened a second one a few years later.
“When we opened the second one in 2010, we had just about 20 people working here, so I didn’t think it was possible to serve more people,” she explains.
“But we got more and more customers.
We have around 30 people here now.”
Ms Zhang says the idea for Sullanys Cafe started when she was shopping for her daughter to buy.
“I was trying to decide what to buy for her birthday and decided to buy a bagel,” she recalls.
“She asked me why and I told her that Sullannys is a bakery and she said, ‘That’s my favourite bakery.'”
Sullaniys Cafe has been around since 2013.
Ms Zhang, who has a degree in education, has been working at Sullanyan Street Bakary since last year.
“After a few months, I was asked to work for a family business, so when my daughter asked me to start a new business, I said yes,” she said.
“The first year I had to hire my daughter and a few other workers.
We were still in the middle of our business, and I had so many questions.
I asked my wife, who is my partner, to look after the business and work hard.
She did a great job.”
The business is now growing by 20 per cent per year.
Ms Sulligans Cafe is not the only small business opening in China.
Last year, a cafe opened in the city of Tianjin, the country’s second largest city.
“A lot of small businesses are starting in China,” Ms Zhang said.
But, as with the Sulligans, Suillannys Cafe is one of the first small businesses to open.
The cafe offers a range of food and drink, including tea and biscuits.
“Some people may want to get more money but if you do, there’s so much better food in China than in the United States, so there’s more freedom for them,” Ms Suillaniys cafe owner Ms Zhang explains.
A new type of cafe Ms Zhang opened Sulliys Cafe in November 2018, after she returned to China from America.
“At first, the food was not very good, so my wife took over the management,” she explained.
“My wife’s mother died when she started work, and it was very hard for her to keep her job.
She was really happy, and she didn’t want to let go.
I wanted to give her a home.
I was looking for a new home to live in, and Sulliliys Cafe was the right place to live.”
The Sullivans Cafe, which is only open a few hours a day, is a cafe that offers traditional Chinese food and drinks, such as tea and pancakes, as well as the best desserts in town.
The Suillivans Café is also popular with the local community, Ms Zhang explained.
The business also serves a large selection of food, including traditional Chinese and American food, but also many other food products, such the biscuits, cakes and pastries, which Ms Suellys Cafe sells for around $10 a piece.
Suellannys Café is one example of the growing trend of restaurants catering to the needs of Chinese people.
“In the past, many people were only eating at restaurants, but now many people are also getting their daily fix from restaurants,” Ms Guoqi said.
China’s booming Chinese restaurant industry is also taking off.
The number of restaurants has increased in recent years, with the number of eateries in Shanghai now surpassing 2,000.
The country’s restaurant industry employs around 4 million people, and the number is expected to double in the next decade, according to the China Restaurant Association.
“Chinese people are very active,” Ms Liu said.
Ms Liu is one part of a growing number of Chinese restaurateurs in China, who are looking to diversify their businesses.
“People have changed so much, and now the restaurants can be anything from a restaurant to a café to a cafe,” she noted.
Suilliys Cafe and Suillanys Café have attracted more customers than they could handle alone.
“They are busy, so we need to make more money, and we are happy to do so,” Ms Li said.
