Coffee break- The lure of the coffee shop
We visit and write about coffee shops a lot on jkOnTheRun and I’ve been giving a lot of thought recently as to why that is. Let’s face it, the beverages in coffee shops vary in quality a lot and are fairly expensive so even if you are a coffee addict these shops are not really places that you just have to go regularly. I have a comfortable home office that is designed to make working much easier than working out and about so why do I go work in coffee shops so much?
After a lot of thought I’ve come to a fairly simple answer. I go because as adults there is not really anywhere else to go. Let me elaborate so you can understand what I mean. We have three teenagers at home, 14, 17 and 18 years of age, and there is a constant stream of people coming in and out of the house all the time, what with friends, boyfriends and girlfriends making the rounds. Most of the time my home office is not very quiet and there is always something going on that distracts me from working. OK, maybe I’m actively looking for distractions but the end result is the same, it’s often difficult for me to work at home, especially during the summer when all kids are out of school. I can work longer and better in those circumstances away from my office.
Once I came to terms with that fact I was confronted with the dilemma of where to go to work. When I was a kid I could go virtually anywhere, the mall, fast food restaurants, and other types of shops. Once adulthood is reached that’s not so easy, proprietors look at you with suspicion if you hang out too long and it’s just not cool to loiter in most places. You can go to places like libraries but those are likely too quiet and let’s face it, Internet connectivity is pretty important to me and others who are trying to work online. Say what you want about Starbucks they changed the way mobile workers get stuff done when they partnered with T-Mobile to put hotspots in most of their shops.
So it’s really a combination of not having anywhere else to go, needing a relatively comfortable place to work, and the critical need for Internet connectivity that makes coffee shops such a draw for me and others like me. It’s not the coffee addiction (solely) that brings me back to the coffee shop regularly, it’s because I don’t have anywhere else to go to work.
UPDATE: I missed a fourth reason I patronize coffee shops. They WANT me there. As simple as that.
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James,
I started going to coffee shops during undergrad. My campus had four local shops, each with a different feel, coffee choices, and music. I spent most of my time in these shops, studying, meeting with friends and professors, and simply people watching. Even now, i gravitate toward the shops around where I currently work because of the sense of peace they bring to me. I’m able to concentrate better amidst the din of conversation and coffee brewing, plus I avoid the water cooler gossip that happens hourly by my cubicle.
I work at home, too, and I’m a big fan of Panera when I want to get out of the house and still work. Much more and much better food than Starbucks, unlimited soda (I’m more of a soda than a coffee person), good bread, inexpensive prices and…..free WiFi.
Panera also has booths as well as tables. Sometimes there are a few loud kids, but usually not. I find it a good place to work.
I am with you all the way, i am in the UK and love to work in my local Starbucks, its the atmosphere and smell, great connectivity and the sales guys dream beverage to keep him going what more can you ask, i do all my best deals over a triple shot non fat vanilla latte
Chris
I am with you all the way, i am in the UK and love to work in my local Starbucks, its the atmosphere and smell, great connectivity and the sales guys dream beverage to keep him going what more can you ask, i do all my best deals over a triple shot non fat vanilla latte
Chris
I am with you all the way, i am in the UK and love to work in my local Starbucks, its the atmosphere and smell, great connectivity and the sales guys dream beverage to keep him going what more can you ask, i do all my best deals over a triple shot non fat vanilla latte
Chris
I must be very, very different to your children..
I go there simply because there coffee rocks (But thatsalso why I don’t go there all the time)
I go to the bar. I know everyone there and the bar stools are comfortable. The chairs at the local Starbucks are really bad.
I deal with the lack of wifi by tethering.
I second that comment about Panera Bread. I had to spend a month out of town last year on a family emergency and I was able to work all day long at a local Panera. They also welcome people to stay as long as they want. There were many days when I got to the Panera for breakfast, started work, had lunch there and finshed the work day. I would warn anyone from trying the same at an IHOP (International House of Pancakes). I tried the same routine at one of their locations and they refused to allow me to plug my laptop into one of their outlets at my table. Thank goodness for forward thinking places like Starbucks and Panera.
I agree that there aren’t many places you can go in urban areas and be inactive. In continental Europe there is, of course, a long tradition of cafes where you could sit for as long as you wanted, write, read, talk, eat, watch the world go by (and mybe these days get online, but I suspect that’s rare). The UK doesn’t really have cafes (although it has places called cafes), maybe the States too. The coffee shops are the nearest equivalent.
I’ve heard women friends say that they don’t feel comfortable going into pubs or restaurants by themselves. Among other things, coffee shops appear to be places where women feel comfortable going alone.
We have Starbucks here in the UK, but I think Costa is better.
Hi guys: ditto here as well. I used to spend a lot of time at Starsucks, until the “worker friendly” atmosphere there started to change. The music got louder (this has been documented here in another post by JK), and I find it harder to concentrate nowadays there. I too, have migrated to the local Paneras, with lots more space, booths, and the free WiFi.
I think the perfect place is a library-type atmosphere (for the golden silence) place with coffee and refreshments to keep you fueled, such as the Barnes and Noble concept. I wish those were more ubiquitous.
Quick question? I have a sandisk that I use especially when I go to coffee shops and work.
I know there are many opinions on what portable player is best, but I do have many catagories of music, and most are in the *.wma format.
What do you all see and being the best bang for the buck, pro’s con’s, flash, hardrive, expandability, for both the mp3, and wma out there now? What do you have? What is everyone else using? The availability of using memory for addtional file back up when needed etc?
Thanks in advance, and have over the years enjoyed everyones participation.
Aloha.
I have a design business and used to work exclusively out of my home studio. There are advantages to working in your own space, the obvious one, you get to work in your boxers if you want. But besides being the king of the castle, if you are working alone, isolation is the last thing you need when trying to grow a business.
Depending on your business, mine being design based, there is an inherent need to be able to interact with the world. I found it excruciating to go hours without having one single conversation with a breathing human being, except the phone calls, but they aren’t the same.
Starbucks has been a great alternative for someone like me with a mobile lifestyle. You get to meet entrepreneurs, students, educators, executives, artists and loungers. All of which could possibly become future clients.
The Starbucks slash coffee house experience affords the guy, or gal, who wants to follow their dream, and not have to hole themselves up in a cave until there dream comes true or isolation sickness turns them into Jack Nicholson in The Shining.
The choice is clear for me. Plus my Starbucks is on the waterfront marina in Jersey City, NJ. It’s a nice view of the yachts coming and going. It gives me the inspiration I need to keep doing what I’m doing. It’s better than staring at 4 walls.
In closing, I read a few posts about how much you should buy to feel good about sitting for hours taking up space. It seems to me the dynamic for a mom and pops coffee shop is quite different than a corporate chain like Starbucks. I have no experience in a smaller shop, but Starbucks seems to promote business activity in their store, because they offer free refills if you register a starbucks card.
In the morning I usually get a tall coffee for $1.77. Throughout the day I get maybe 2 refills. After lunch a piece of pound cake or something similar. That’s not too big of a price for office space let me tell you. I don’t think they would give refills if they wanted people to fight with themselves over what is an acceptable amount to spend to justify their existence.
Don’t over think it. If you are starting your business and you can’t afford space, chances are you can’t afford to spend $15 dollars a day at Starbucks. Trust me, the suits know this as well. Keep Grinding!