I hack at a coffee shop with some frequency, and have built a sufficient rapport with the staff that I feel I can get honest answers out of a few of them.
Starbucks aims to be the "third place". Home, Work, Starbucks. That's what _they_ want, they want to be inviting, they want to have good wifi, new stores should have very convenient power. So it's not like they didn't plan on this happening. But they do have numbers to meet.
- They do complain about people who buy a small coffee then site for five hours. (so keep buying)
- They seem less concerned with what you're buying, more concerned with you doing it with some frequency (unless it's the cheapest thing on the menu)
- If you have a loyalty card, your free refill appear the same to them as if you bought something, so don't feel bad there.
- They hate people who shout into skype, listen to music through speakers, or take over multiple seats (just as much as you do)
- Leave 10 minutes before closing.
- Tip.
I think there's also work that cafés can do to better manage their space. I look at patrons in two camps: campers and drinkers.
Campers show up laptop and stay for a long time.
Drinkers want to come in, buy a coffee, sit down and drink it, maybe with a friend, then leave.
Having seating targeted at both groups helps them make effective use of the space. My old starbucks had nice bar-style seating facing a window. Narrow ledge big enough for a paperback and a coffee, not big enough for a laptop. This fit in a lot of patrons per square foot (compared to a full table & chair). "Campers" could fill up appropriate seating, then "drinkers" could show up and still see great seats for themselves. Drinkers who came early often saw the nice seats by the window and filled up there first, leaving more tables for campers.
My current coffee shop only has seating that works for campers. So the place can fill up with the laptop crowd, a drinker can walk in then walk back out. Or it can fill up with Drinkers, and lose campers the same way.
>- If you have a loyalty card, your free refill appear the same to them as if you bought something, so don't feel bad there.
The way Starbucks structures their loyalty program really says a lot about what behavior they want out of their customers, if we're to assume that a loyalty program's purpose is to incentivize customers to behave in a manner that's more profitable to Starbucks.
You get a loyalty point for every paid transaction. Doesn't matter if you buy a $1.50 bottled water or $100 on lattes for your entire team -- your standing in the program is based on simply how often you show up. There's a really low bar (5 transactions) to get free refills, which seems to encourage you to come into a Starbucks and linger for a while.
So they definitely seem perfectly happy with you coming in and spending a bunch of time there -- so long as you do it often!
I don't disagree with your comment, but I want to note:
> Starbucks aims to be the "third place". Home, Work, Starbucks. That's what _they_ want
They're aiming to be your third place, the tension here is that it's becoming a second place for many. That places a different burden on the a coffeeshop than being a third place does.
The Mill and Ritual Roasters in SF are both famous for not providing public access to their power outlets in order to encourage people to camp elsewhere. The Mill doesn't even have public Wi-Fi.
Starbucks aims to be the "third place". Home, Work, Starbucks. That's what _they_ want, they want to be inviting, they want to have good wifi, new stores should have very convenient power. So it's not like they didn't plan on this happening. But they do have numbers to meet.
- They do complain about people who buy a small coffee then site for five hours. (so keep buying)
- They seem less concerned with what you're buying, more concerned with you doing it with some frequency (unless it's the cheapest thing on the menu)
- If you have a loyalty card, your free refill appear the same to them as if you bought something, so don't feel bad there.
- They hate people who shout into skype, listen to music through speakers, or take over multiple seats (just as much as you do)
- Leave 10 minutes before closing.
- Tip.
I think there's also work that cafés can do to better manage their space. I look at patrons in two camps: campers and drinkers.
Campers show up laptop and stay for a long time. Drinkers want to come in, buy a coffee, sit down and drink it, maybe with a friend, then leave.
Having seating targeted at both groups helps them make effective use of the space. My old starbucks had nice bar-style seating facing a window. Narrow ledge big enough for a paperback and a coffee, not big enough for a laptop. This fit in a lot of patrons per square foot (compared to a full table & chair). "Campers" could fill up appropriate seating, then "drinkers" could show up and still see great seats for themselves. Drinkers who came early often saw the nice seats by the window and filled up there first, leaving more tables for campers.
My current coffee shop only has seating that works for campers. So the place can fill up with the laptop crowd, a drinker can walk in then walk back out. Or it can fill up with Drinkers, and lose campers the same way.
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