I’m all for a business owner saying, “Okay, look, we’re going to pay you a living wage to serve coffee, but that means we’re going to have to sell this product at a much higher price than is competitive.” Advertise that to your customers—“we know you’re paying a bit more for this coffee and bagel than you would at our competitors, but you’re putting braces on our employees’ kids’ teeth.”
I frequent coffee shops, and that kind of model really resonates with the middle-class progressive clientele. It taps into the crusader/moralist mentality of the woke Left in what I think could be a productive way: the soyboy buying his coffee gets to feel good about “helping the workers”; the workers get more money and benefits.
It’s not sustainable in most businesses, but it could work in this environment. The problem is that progressives, like everyone, ultimately have to think about their personal spending, and raising prices will obviously mean fewer customers overall. Marketing with the right social justice message could mitigate some of that—and some people are very loyal to their preferred coffee shop—but it’s not easy. It sounds like the owner of OCF was trying some of these things and they weren’t working.
Tyler, that model worked remarkably well for Starbucks for decades. But Philadelphia after George Floyd and COVID, maybe not so much. But I’m glad to see they kept their solidarity and now can keep each other company on the unemployment line. I wonder if there is any resale value for nose-rings?
“I wonder if there is any resale value for nose-rings?”
I’ll check on that and give you a ring.
It won’t work for any product that sells for more than the prospective customer considers to be more than pocket change.