Show HN: I built a website to find nearby cafes to work remotely from

Re:Show HN: I built a website to find nearby cafes to work r... by trzy on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @11:13AM (#31098094)

Historically, cafes were social forums where people gathered for hours at a time to read and converse. Maximizing absolute profit by optimizing customer throughput is the modern take. But that’s not what cafes are for and so you should not feel bad for forcing owners to understand their business and optimize for both profitability and the cafe experience.

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Re:Show HN: I built a website to find nearby cafes to work r... by padolsey on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @11:17AM (#31098156)

I would love a return to that historic ideal, though it just wouldn't be economical on its own. It would end up being a loss-making add-on to some larger enterprise.. perhaps a bookstore or a locally funded community centre?

I'm reminded of Ziferblat [1] and other similar "anti-cafes" [2]. They shut down their local one here though, apparently due to not being able to meet the cost of skyrocketing commercial rents.

[1] https://www.ziferblat.co.uk/Coventry/discover [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-caf%C3%A9

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Re:Show HN: I built a website to find nearby cafes to work r... by bombcar on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @01:24PM (#31100170)

It's more likely the bookstore would be the loss-leader for the cafe.

The usual killer, as you've identified, isn't people sitting at the tables but the rents. Possibly you could do a quite "successful" cafe as a non-profit that owns the building it is sitting in.

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Re:Show HN: I built a website to find nearby cafes to work r... by dustymcp on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @11:16AM (#31098145)

I worked at a cafe, it worked more like a family than a business, we all got food in the evening and had fun together, the restaurant was the main life, but one shouldnt underestimate the café when it was in a good day, alot of people enjoy just coming in and grabbing togo if its good, more than enough to make up for the hangarounds/workers.

Also it seemed the more people who where actually there the more business it received.

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Re:Show HN: I built a website to find nearby cafes to work r... by Mikeb85 on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @02:52PM (#31101293)

> Maximizing absolute profit by optimizing customer throughput is the modern take.

Because real estate prices and thus rent have gone through the roof compared to the historic average.

Coffee used to be expensive relative to wages and rent ultra-cheap. Now that's flipped.

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Re:Show HN: I built a website to find nearby cafes to work r... by bottled_poe on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @11:22AM (#31098242)

“Historically” is relevant how? The world moves on, cafes are no exception lmao.

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Re:Show HN: I built a website to find nearby cafes to work r... by trzy on Wednesday April 20, 2022 @11:24AM (#31098269)

You’re right, they’ve moved on from periodicals and discussion groups to laptop usage for hours at a time :)

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