Why hundreds of venues are closing in Kyiv, and how not to be one of them

It's not a general crisis. It's a selective disaster

Despite the mass closures, some venues aren't just surviving: they're earning steadily.

Among them:

• chains
• the premium segment
• concept places with their own audience

So the problem isn't the market as such.

The problem is that some venues have stopped being relevant.

What exactly is killing venues

1. A sharp rise in costs. Electricity, generators, ingredients. Even small spots could spend tens of thousands of hryvnias just to keep running.
2. Falling purchasing power. People started counting their spending and paying less often for coffee or snacks.
3. An oversaturated market. Too many identical venues in the same locations.
4. Weak marketing. Many venues don't understand how to work with guests and have no clear positioning.

But the biggest change is in the guest

Today people:

• go out less often
• think more before spending
• choose more carefully

And most importantly:

they no longer want “just a coffee.”

They want:

• comfort
• atmosphere
• people

That's why the “coffee to go for 80-90 UAH” format is no longer working.

Why some venues close and others don't

There's a simple test.

Venues without their own audience close.
Venues with their own audience survive.

That's the “golden league” everyone talks about.

They may not be the cheapest.
Or the most convenient.

But they give people a reason to come back.

The problem with most venues

Most of them work like this:

• peak hours: there are people
• the rest of the time: empty

And the whole strategy looks like this:

• ads
• discounts
• promotions

But none of that creates stability.

It just pours money on the problem for a while.

Where the money actually is

The economics of a venue itself are shifting.

Not toward peak hours.

Toward the quiet ones.

• Morning, 08:00-11:00
• Afternoon, 16:00-18:00

That's where you have:

• empty tables
• rent that’s already paid
• a team that’s already on site

And every extra guest = pure gain in revenue.

What works in the new reality

A different logic wins:

• not just attracting guests, but making them regulars
• not just selling, but giving people a reason to come back
• not just having a menu, but having a community

Where AOA fits in

AOA isn't just another traffic channel.

It's infrastructure that solves the market's main problem:

the lack of a steady audience.

What that means in practice:

• filling quiet hours
• regular clubs and meetups
• repeat visits as a system

One club of 8-12 people once a week is 400+ visits a year.

No ads.
No constantly starting from zero.

How this changes a venue

Before:

• random guests
• unstable traffic
• dependence on the season

After:

• predictable slots
• regular faces
• a living community

The venue stops being just a place.

It becomes a point of attraction.

The bottom line

The market isn't falling.

It's clearing out.

The ones disappearing are those who give people no reason to come.
The ones staying are those who give people a reason to come back.

The question is no longer how good your coffee is.

The question is
whether you have people.