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'We don't want to be an office:' Café owners are pulling the plug on WiFi
When HotBlack Coffee opened in downtown Toronto a year ago, it took a risk few businesses would dare take in today's online-driven world: it turned off the WiFi.
"Every day people come in and ask for it," says Jimson Bienenstock, the café's co-owner.
Still, he hasn't wavered.
"In the short term, it hurt us," Mr. Bienenstock says. "It took us longer to become established, but once we reached critical mass, it has become a self-fulfilling virtuous circle."
While most cafés offer free WiFi, including large chains such as Starbucks, McDonald's and Tim Hortons, HotBlack is among a small but growing number of independent coffee shops choosing to ditch or limit Internet use. By not offering WiFi, they're hoping to create more of a community atmosphere where people talk to each other instead of silently typing on their computers.
If coffeeshops come to discourage people working, perhaps that activity can shift to libraries.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @05:36AM (4 children)
HotBlack Coffee, 245 Queen St W, Toronto
Starbucks, 250 Queen St W, Toronto
(Score: 5, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Tuesday May 02 2017, @05:50AM (3 children)
Sounds like a good partition of market there. Starbucks gets those who are primarily interested in free internet and like to buy a coffee while online, HotBlack gets those who are interested in drinking coffee in a surrounding not packed with laptops. I could imagine visiting both shops at different occasions, and I certainly would consider it a win that both options are available. Indeed, even if you are only ever plan to use free WiFi, you might profit from the fact that people who'd object to your laptop use in the coffee shop now have the option to go to HotBlack where they can get exactly what they want without bothering you while you enjoy your free internet at Starbucks.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @06:19AM (2 children)
1. Install a wireless range extender somewhere in between the two stores.
2. Use Starbucks Wi-Fi at HotBlack.
or
1. Buy coffee at HotBlack and drink it at Starbucks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02 2017, @06:32AM (1 child)
This is downtown Toronto we're talking about, not the middle of nowhere. Chances are the neighbors have Wi-Fi that reaches HotBlack.
Me, I'd rather eat at Mi Taco Taqueria next door at 247 Queen St anyhow.
Last time I visited a Chipotle Mexican Grill, I used the wi-fi of the neighboring La Quinta Inn.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday May 02 2017, @07:29AM
This is downtown Toronto we're talking about, not the middle of nowhere.
I do not understand. Are not these synonymous terms? Gordon Lightfoot sang about it, and I Don't Want to Go to Toronto! [youtube.com] ("There is a tower in Toronto that controls people's minds! There is a tax on all wicker good in Toronto!")