Bringing something new to KK’s cafe scene, this Sabahan decided to open his store in a gym

Especially for non-gymgoers, it might not ever occur to you to visit a café inside a fitness centre. At least, that’s the case for me, as someone who does not consider gyms as a place to lepak in.

However, Kota Kinabalu native Alvin decided to take on the challenge by opening up his own café, nestled inside a gym by the name of Kyros Fitness.

And no, it’s not designed to just attract fitness junkies. More on that later.  

Alvin has gotten his fair share of experience with cafes while living in KL, but today he’s stationed in Kota Kinabalu where he works for his parents’ business. Of course, he’s also double-hatting as the founder of his own café, Yawny Space.

“This would be my first business in F&B,” he shared. “I started being interested in specialty coffee five years ago during the pandemic and decided to try my hand in it after doing it for myself at home.”

Alvin admitted that Yawny Space, being a part-time commitment of his at the moment, is mainly just him “trying to see if it’ll work out”. Despite the humble ambitions, he invested RM70,000 of his own savings into the business and opened up shop in March this year.

A yawny area in a high-energy space

The location, of course, is rather different.

“The owner of Kyro Fitness, who is a friend of mine, wanted to have a cafe space inside the gym, and he approached me,” Alvin explained. “I thought that this would be an interesting thing to try and decided to just go for it.”

So, to clarify, Yawny Space and Kyro Fitness are run by different operators, whereby Alvin is essentially renting the space from them.

He dubbed the business Yawny Space, obviously a nod to how coffee keeps people awake on the verge of falling asleep.

Not just for gym junkies

Catering to the gym crowd, Yawny Space does offer a range of protein shakes and healthy options such as cold pressed juices.

“But we also wanted to have other options for people who are, let’s say, waiting for their partners to finish working out, or taking care of the kids while waiting, etc.,” Alvin pointed out.

Although the team is actively trying to welcome a broader demographic, Yawny Space’s current demographic is mostly still members of Kyros Fitness.  

This aligns with the fact that a big challenge of theirs is visibility, or a lack thereof. Since Yawny Space is located inside another venue, it doesn’t get much foot traffic. This is exacerbated by the fact that there isn’t actual signage on the building for the café.

To really appeal outside of their regulars, Yawny Space has developed quite a suite of unique beverages such as their Black Sesame Lattes (also called “Cement” Latte) and Orange Fizzy Espressos.

They also sell some hot foods, such as beef and chicken pies, chicken burritos, and a variety of pastries. These are outsourced from friends of the business since they do not have a fully equipped kitchen.

“We’d like to think that we can also offer this space for people who just want to try their hand at pastries/baking, as a platform for them to sell too,” Alvin added. “So far it seems like people love the cookies.”

Slow, small, and steady

At the time of writing, Alvin said that the reception for Yawny Space has been “alright”.

“Business could be better as well but we know it’s a difficult path,” he mused. In any case, he’s happy to report that they’ve been able to ensure that staff members aren’t going without pay—a small but commendable feat for a budding business.

According to Alvin, the café culture in Sabah is moderate, though he finds that café-hopping tendencies seem to have calmed down over the years.

“We think it’s difficult to come into this market with so many great cafes already out here, but we hope we can bring something different too,” he admitted. “This is why we started out in a gym and thought it was a new idea for KK.”

Alvin does intend to keep the business small for now, properly serving the community instead of jumping the gun with expansion plans.

In any case, it’s only been three months or so since Yawny Space’s inception, so there’s still plenty of room (and time) for growth.

Featured Image Credit: Yawny Space