Make mine a latte

[Friam mailing list]

I tried to find the original Economist article, but it's now premium=20
content, so you'll just need to page through this assembled thread=20
courtesy of my brother's partner in Seattle.

-- rec --

FYI - interesting

from the Economist article: America is becoming a cafe culture. But the=20
reason is less Starbucks marketing than the economic downturn. The=20
white-collar army of the unemployed are making cafes their offices and=20
job-search centres. Going there every day provides the same sort of=20
structure and routine as a formal office - but with much better coffee.
Of course, cafes have long served as the locus of business activity for=20
independent consultants, creative types and teleworkers (as well as=20
brewing-places for novels, coups and revolutions). But the new clientele =

is different. In contrast to previous recessions, more professionals are =

out of work. Technology has changed, too, allowing people to job-hunt or =

devise new business plans untethered from their clunky desk computers=20
and tangled-cord home phones. Moreover, with the number of cafes growing =

from under 2,000 in 1991 to over 14,000 today, these people now have=20
plenty of places to go.

-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Shearston

Cafe, of course, you want to sober up in the middle of the Atlantic?=20
Paine was clearly drunk :-)

Where did Billg and Steveb hang out? Bet there's a Denny's in Alberque.

If I recall, as soon as the revolution was pretty much going his way,=20
Lenin started to hang out at the Hotel Metropole, still a 4 star in=20
Moscow, and made a speech from the balcony of the ballroom.  Not sure=20
what that means :-)
  -----Original Message-----
From: Pam Heath

So if you tallied up all the outcomes of pub efforts versus caf=E9=20
efforts, which wins? Is it the energy and single-mindedness that derives =

from caffeine, or the conviviality & social relationships typically=20
associated with the communal sharing of socially accepted depressants?=20
We get Poor Law Reform out of pubs (and I'd guess revolution - hard to=20
imagine Tom Paine anywhere else. Where did Lenin hang out?) and the=20
insurance industry out of caf=E9s? Not that I'm drawing any political=20
conclusions, of course...J



-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Shearston



Oh dear, how could  I forget the pub? I must be working too hard :-) But =

that's where we put the World to rights; the only pub I can think of in=20
UK history is the Pelican Inn, Speen, Berkshire where we put together=20
the Poor Law Reform Act of 1832 (the beginning of the welfare state (I=20
think)?



I'm sure the American War of Independence (or as we like to call it, the =

American Revolution) has a pub in it somewhere.



And how could I forget drawing up my own biz plan in the City in the=20
heady 80's, in a pub. Boy, could we have done with the Web then, just to =

look up "business plan" and "limited liability":-)



Then there is the Sushi bar in Curpertino where Jobs, et al hung out... e=
tc.


From: Pam Heath

Not pubs? There's a (mostly) great book on the impact of these "3rd=20
places" (home =3D 1st place, work =3D 2nd place, everywhere else where=20
people meet =3D 3rd places):

The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg

  And Celebrating the Third Places, Ray Oldenburg (ed.)

I imagine the next step is a collaboration between Robert Putnam=20
(Bowling Alone), Ray, an economist, a geographer, and a historian to=20
study to broader impacts of these social spaces. Does technology change=20
the fundamental role & impact of these spaces? To what degree will we=20
ever trade meeting face-to-face in these spaces for the virtual version, =

maybe a sort of the online version of a phenomenon well-known in the=20
very international setting and economic crucible of Hong Kong (where I=20
used to spend some time), where it was common to be in a bar, strike up=20
a conversation with someone, and soon be putting together a deal, a=20
venture that crossed countries, cultures, or continents.

-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Shearston

Interesting, the British insurance industry came out of a cafe culture=20
as did many expeditions to find new worlds, hence foreign trade. Reminds =

me of Mrs. Miggin's pie shop in "BlackAdder" for those who have seen it.


From: Erik Speckman

On a related note:

Make mine a latte - America's new cafe culture.

441 words
14 June 2003
The Economist
English
(c) The Economist Newspaper Limited, London 2003. All rights reserved

The labour market

A new role for America's coffee houses

EIGHT in the morning, and seats are filling up fast at the coffee house=20
on the corner of 3rd Street and Avenue A in New York. All day long, the=20
cafe swarms with young professionals clicking away at laptop computers=20
and gabbing on mobile phones. Business is being done. But there's a=20
hitch: many of these frenetic patrons are out of work.

The story is the same at the Torrefazione Italia, on a chic stretch of=20
Boston's Newbury Street. Alana Raftery, who used to be in software=20
sales, sits there for hours with an iced coffee and paperwork. On=20
Fridays, she pushes tables together with five other women to plan a=20
software-services venture.

America is becoming a cafe culture. But the reason is less Starbucks=20
marketing than the economic downturn. The white-collar army of the=20
unemployed are making cafes their offices and job-search centres. Going=20
there every day provides the same sort of structure and routine as a=20
formal office - but with much better coffee.

Of course, cafes have long served as the locus of business activity for=20
independent consultants, creative types and teleworkers (as well as=20
brewing-places for novels, coups and revolutions). But the new clientele =

is different. In contrast to previous recessions, more professionals are =

out of work. Technology has changed, too, allowing people to job-hunt or =

devise new business plans untethered from their clunky desk computers=20
and tangled-cord home phones. Moreover, with the number of cafes growing =

from under 2,000 in 1991 to over 14,000 today, these people now have=20
plenty of places to go.

Their habit may also herald a deeper trend in the workforce: an era of=20
nomadic teleworkers, whose jobs are no longer tied to one particular=20
spot. Quinn Mills, a professor of economics at the Harvard Business=20
School, believes that companies, "with their urge to regiment", are=20
unprepared for this. Not only the unemployed, but workers too, may=20
prefer to decamp to Starbucks: great for reducing overheads, but perhaps =

less good for productivity.

For coffee houses themselves, their new status as job centres has helped =

the industry buck the slumping economy. In 2002, the gourmet-coffee=20
sector earned a record $8.40 billion in revenue, with cafes accounting=20
for more than half the sales. Many coffee houses, belonging both to=20
publicly-traded companies and independent retailers, are reporting sales =

growth of roughly 7%. And though $4 for a cappuccino may seem steep,=20
it's pretty good for a New York per diem office rent.

From: Jeff Erwin



This provides an interesting twist:  mom and dad might be more willing=20
to take the kids to McDonald's if the kids can play and they can surf.=20
I still think this will result in less table turnover and less available =

seating for people who just want to eat.  Staying longer must result in=20
spending more money for the model to work, and it doesn't at an eating=20
establishment.  I still think it will settle into 'wired bars' (like the =

fern bars of days long gone) where staying longer does result in more=20
revenue for the business.

A wired cigar bar might be the top of the food chain for this business=20
model.

From: Dennis Cheung

FWIW, McDonald's definitely does not want you to linger at their=20
restaurants. The majority of their seats are designed to be comfortable=20
for about 15 minutes at most.