Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
The coffee shop owners aren't *luddites*; I'm sure that they use all kinds of technology in their business. What they are is unsure how to make a profit when people with laptops buy a drink for $2-4 and then spend two hours a table doing homework/facebook/shopping/etc.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamlet53
The logical answer early on in this thread. Coffee shops derive income from selling coffee. People occupying tables and chairs while nursing a cup of coffee for a long time cost the shop money.
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Nonsense.
For every person nursing their one cup of coffee, there are three or four people who buy a second cup, get a danish or scone or otherwise buy extra because they are sitting there so long.
If this were not the case, they would not offer the wi-fi. They see a benefit to doing so and they don't need to come up with a new model for it.
Panera has started a timer on their free wi-fi during the lunch rush. This seems perfectly reasonable to me at a time where turnover is important. But for the rest of the day, they offer it free, because their customers are likely to order more if they are there longer.
On Saturdays, my son has Martial Arts class. I sit in a bagel shop with free wi-fi while he is in class. I always order a bagel, usually get a coffee and a bagel for my wife and father-in-law and ever week or two, after tasting some of their 'free samples' get a brownie or a muffin. They are glad to have me sitting there for my hour or so because they make a good profit off of the time that I sit there.
If they didn't offer wi-fi, I would go in, buy my bagel (they have wonderful flavored cream cheeses) and go find another place with wi-fi to sit and patronize with the extra spending.