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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: 4, Insightful) by aclarke on Tuesday May 02 2017, @01:04PM
I work from home, and even an introvert like me gets stir-crazy at home sometimes. Or, when I'm travelling I might need a place to work aside from my hotel room. I have a few rules I try to follow, and I've never had a problem working from a café.
1. If I'm at a new place and I'm not sure what they think about me working, I always ask first. For example, I spent a couple days in Toronto last year working with a partner and we didn't have an office. We worked out of some great cafés. I always asked first if it was OK, and I always got a smile and a "no problem!"
2. If the café or restaurant is getting full, especially over a meal time, I either order a meal or I get out. I don't camp in a spot and keep a table from a paying customer.
3. I make sure I spend money while I'm there, whether I eat a meal or not. That way, regardless of how busy the place is or isn't, I try to keep them happy that I'm there.
4. I leave tips.
5. I don't sprawl my stuff everywhere.
There's a right and a wrong way to do these things. Too many selfish assholes are why we can't have nice things. I occasionally go to libraries too, and they're great because they're quiet and usually have great internet. However, the ones I go to don't let me bring in coffee which is a bummer. I tried a co-working space a few weeks ago, but it was deathly quiet, not particularly sociable, and at $25 per day I could drop $25 at a coffee shop over the same period, be happily full with unhealthy snacks and coffee, and I expect leave a café staff who were glad I showed up for the day.