Coffee break- when WiFi can’t be free
I like working in coffee houses as you know, they provide a nice atmosphere for writing and good java at the same time. These are the two most important factors for me in my choice of where to go with my business but another good factor is free WiFi. Outside of the for-pay T-Mobile hotspots like those in Starbucks most local coffee houses offer free WiFi to help them be competitive. It’s great for those of us who like to drop in, have a good brew and do some web work. One of the local coffee houses, whom I won’t mention by name because I don’t want to give them grief, doesn’t offer WiFi, either free or for pay. I still go there as I have my ever-present EV-DO but others I’ve spoken to about this shop do not go there because they need WiFi.
I found it strange that they don’t offer WiFi so in a recent email exchange with the owner I asked why they don’t offer WiFi of any kind. His answer really surprised me as it would never occur to me that such a situation could exist. He admitted that providing free WiFi for customers is now very cheap and something that he’d like to do but he can’t. See, his shop is in a very small local strip center with limited parking and his landlord prohibits the offering of WiFi of any kind as it encourages patrons to stay longer than usual and tie up parking spaces. It’s actually in his lease that he can’t offer WiFi as it is important to have rapid turnover for the parking spaces for the center. This totally surprised me and made me realize that it’s tough to be a small businessman in such a competitive field so next time you visit such a shop don’t jump on the owner, they may not have a choice to forego the WiFi.
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Honestly, I don’t like the free WiFi. I’ve *stopped* patronizing Panera because of it. There’s too many people just sitting there all day. Even if you can find a table, the environment is often office-like (or schol-like) during the days with people holding meetings around computers. I’d rather have pay WiFi – they can make a little money and the loitering is reduced. I pay $20/mo for T-Mo’s Hotpost and I’d pay for Panera if they offered it. (I also have my EVDO card, but again Panera’s not where I want to be.)
Wow, that’s kind of amazing. I guess the landlord doesn’t have a lot of options, but that’s pretty rough for the business owner.
@Dave Zatz: I agree about Panera–that place is kind of scary during the day. I moved to a new city a couple months ago, a college town, and it took me quite awhile to find a coffee shop where I can feel comfortable working. The trouble is that the most of the coffee shops here are concentrated downtown, which is next to campus, and they’re all just crawling with laptop-toting college kids all day–it feels like the library there’s so many of them. But I did finally find a great coffee shop a couple blocks farther from campus that’s not unpopular with the college kids or the Panera crowd, but far from overrun, and the staff is friendly and the atmosphere is relaxed. Also, it’s a vegetarian coffee house–I’m not a vegetarian, but they make an awesome grilled cheese panini. And they have the free wi-fi, of course.
I guess what I’m saying is that you should shop around. Chances are if you’re willing to stray a little farther, you’ll be able to find a place that has the atmosphere you’re looking for.
I appreciate individual choices, but to me, this is a “yougottabekiddingme” story. In his lease. Very strange, indeed.
As someone who has been toting mobile technology since it was thirty pounds, myself, and a bit self-conscious about pulling it out, I’m relieved to find that I’m not the oddball anymore when I have my mobile tech, although I don’t see as many tablets and UMPCs as I keep expecting, nor many people working on palmtops either (although for a while there, palmtops were ubiquitous).
I certainly understand avoiding the places that market to the laptop generation, but that’s where you’ll find me, and I’ve avoided Starbuck’s because every competitor of theirs in my town has free Wi-Fi. I appreciate the idea of charging for a service you render, but it sure is easier when it’s worked into the price of the coffee when it’s so inexpensive, anyway, and I don’t have to think about whether I’m a subscriber to this or that service. I don’t expect people sitting around an upscale restaurant with their laptops out, but a coffee house? Bring a book, bring a notebook, bring your calendar, bring your computer. Back in the ’70s the one coffee house in my town with an espresso machine was opened by a guy who wanted a nice place to sit and write.
Simple solution for the coffee shop owner is to offer wi-fi with time-limits. He could bring in wireless guests while maintaining the level of turnover required by his landlord.
Wade
http://www.freewifihotspotsoftware.com